The University of Michigan consumer sentiment for the US dropped to 55.4 in September 2025, down from 58 in August and well below market expectations of 58, according to preliminary estimates. This marked the second consecutive monthly decrease, pushing sentiment to its lowest level since May. The current conditions index deteriorated to 61.2 from 61.7 and the expectations gauge fell to 51.8 from 55.9. Meanwhile, year-ahead inflation expectations held steady at 4.8% while the five-year expectations moved up for the second straight month to 3.9% from 3.5%. Source : Trading Economics
U.S. manufacturing contracted further in April while tariffs on imported goods were straining supply chains, keeping prices paid for inputs elevated. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said on Thursday that its manufacturing PMI dropped to a five-month low of 48.7 last month from 49.0 in March. A PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10.2% of the economy. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the PMI declining to 48. The survey covered Trump's "Liberation Day" tariff announcement, which ushered in sweeping duties on most...
Applications for US unemployment benefits jumped to the highest level since February during the week that followed Easter. Initial claims increased by 18,000 to 241,000 in the week ended April 26, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for 223,000 applications. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.92 million in the week ended April 19, the highest since 2021. That exceeds economists' forecasts. Source: Bloomberg
Ukraine and the U.S. on Wednesday signed a deal heavily promoted by U.S. President Donald Trump that will give the United States preferential access to new Ukrainian minerals deals and fund investment in Ukraine's reconstruction. The two countries signed the accord in Washington after months of sometimes fraught negotiations, with uncertainty persisting until the last moment with word of an eleventh-hour snag. The accord establishes a joint investment fund for Ukraine's reconstruction as Trump tries to secure a peace settlement in Russia's three-year-old war in Ukraine. The agreement is...
U.S. President Donald Trump's administration reached out to China to initiate talks over a bitter tariff exchange between the two countries, a state-run Chinese media outlet reported on Wednesday. U.S. officials had reached out to China through various channels with the intent of negotiating on tariff issues, according to a post by Yuyuantantian, a Weibo (NASDAQ:WB) account affiliated with state broadcaster China Central Television. The report comes amid heightened speculation over U.S.-China trade talks, with Washington and Beijing offering contrasting views on negotiations. Trump claimed...
Price increases subsided in March, going by the Federal Reserve's preferred metric, bringing annualized inflation closer to the central bank's target in the month before the brunt of President Trump's new tariffs took effect. The personal-consumption-expenditures price index was flat last month, the Commerce Department said Wednesday. After stripping out variable food and energy costs, core prices also were flat. Analysts polled by The Wall Street Journal thought prices would be flat month over month, or up 0.1% on the core reading. The cooler price increases pulled the 12-month PCE...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
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 rejected on Friday a suggestion by Donald Trump that Russian drone incursions into its airspace could have been a mistake, a rare contradiction of the U.S. president from one of Washington's...