Floods on Indonesia's holiday island of Bali have killed at least nine this week and affected 600 people, blocking off major roads in the capital and disrupting a busy travel destination, officials said on Wednesday. Continuous heavy rains between Tuesday evening and Wednesday caused the floods and killed five people in Bali's capital Denpasar, Abdul Muhari, the spokesperson of the country's disaster mitigation agency said in a statement. Four more people were killed in the regions of Jembrana, Gianyar, and Badung, Abdul added. Two people were still missing. Out of 600 people affected,...
US consumer sentiment fell to 58.6 in August from 61.7—the first decline since April. The University of Michigan survey was conducted July 29–August 11, with tariff concerns again weighing on confidence. Full-year inflation expectations rose to 4.9%, while the 5–10-year forecast was 3.9%. Both were worse than economists' forecasts. Job concerns also increased: 62% of respondents predicted unemployment would rise. 58% planned to cut back on spending (cars, household goods, dining out), and durable goods purchasing conditions fell to their lowest in a year. Meanwhile, retail sales continued...
President Donald Trump said he would set levies on semiconductors in the coming two weeks, the latest indication he's readying a substantial expansion of his tariff regime. "I'll be setting tariffs next week and the week after, on steel and on, I would, say chips — chips and semiconductors, we'll be setting sometime next week, week after," Trump told reporters Friday aboard Air Force One en route to Alaska for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. It wasn't clear if Trump misspoke about steel tariffs. He already hiked duties on steel and aluminum imports to 50% in...
Retail sales in the US increased 0.5% month-over-month in July 2025, in line with market expectations and following an upwardly revised 0.9% rise in June. The largest increases were seen in sales at motor vehicle & parts dealers (1.6%) and furniture & home furn. stores (1.4%). Other gains were seen in sales at sporting goods, hobby, musical instrument, & book store (0.8%), nonstore retailers (0.8%), clothing & clothing accessories stores (0.7%) and gasoline stations (0.7%). Source: Trading Economics
Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin will measure success at their summit in Alaska very differently, even as both leaders are already looking toward a second meeting. The US president sees any kind of ceasefire in Ukraine as a key objective of the talks. For the Russian leader, getting face time with Trump on American soil without having made any concessions on the war is already a win. Those are the contrasting stakes as both leaders head to Anchorage for their first summit since 2018 in Helsinki. The imbalance points to the perils and opportunities for Trump, who has long cast...
The U.S. Census Bureau will release the country's Retail Sales report on Friday. Market analysts expect headline Retail Sales to grow 0.5% monthly in July, following a slightly higher increase in June, indicating that consumption remains strong. Consumers appear to have flocked to shopping malls, responding to summer sales and seeking to avoid further price increases resulting from higher trade tariffs. Consumer spending unexpectedly recovered in June after a 0.9% decline in May. Retail and food services grew 0.6%, totaling USD 720.1 billion in June, driven by the broad recovery. Excluding...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
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Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
Poland shot down a drone in its airspace on Wednesday with the support of military aircraft from its NATO allies. This is the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have...