
The economic activity in the United States' (US) manufacturing sector continued to contract in October, with the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropping to 48.7 from 49.1 in September. This reading came in weaker than the market expectation of 49.5. Other details of the PMI report showed that the Employment Index edged higher to 46 from 45.3 in this period, while the New Orders Index improved to 49.4 from 48.9. Finally, the Prices Pair Index, the input inflation component of the survey, declined to 58 from 61.9. Source: FXstreet
U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday backed off his threat to speed up 50% tariffs on imports from the European Union, agreeing to extend his deadline for trade talks until July 9 after the head of the EU executive body said the bloc needed more time to "reach a good deal." Trump threatened on Friday to intensify his trade war after expressing frustrations that trade talks were not moving quickly enough, saying he wanted steep new import taxes to start on June 1. The threat roiled global markets. Trump relented after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told him during a...
During remarks delivered to the press during his weekly Executive Order signing, US President Donald Trump added further, though not always clear, tariff comments to his social media posts earlier Friday. Key highlights We're talking about big factories. Technology has come a long way in terms of safety and cost. We need a tremendous amount of electricity. Talks with the EU are going slowly. (On his threat of new 50% tariffs on the EU): I'm not looking for a deal, the tariffs are set at 50%. I can talk about delaying the EU tariffs if they start moving factories to the US. We have a...
US Treasury bonds appear to have taken some comfort today from the Supreme Court ruling that the Fed's unique structure can protect its board members from potential presidential removal, Rabobank FX analyst Jane Foley reports. Closing of USD shorts for 1 to 3 months cannot be ruled out "This would ease any potential credibility issues for the Fed which would dampen inflation concerns, at least until the end of Chairman Powell's term. Nonetheless, the USD weakness this week suggests that investors continue to re-evaluate what ‘US exceptionalism' means. For a number of years, the ‘buy...
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened once again on Friday to ramp up his trade war, recommending a 50% tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warning Apple (AAPL.O), opens new tab he may impose a 25% tariff on any iPhones manufactured outside the U.S. The twin threats, delivered via social media, roiled global markets after weeks of de-escalation had provided some reprieve. The S&P 500 fell 0.9% in early trading, the Nasdaq fell 1.5%, and European shares fell 1.1%. Trump's latest broadside against the EU stemmed from his frustration at the lack of progress in trade talks...
The United Kingdom (UK) Retail Sales jumped 1.2% month-over-month (MoM) in April after advancing 0.1% in March (revised from 0.4%), the latest data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed Friday. Markets expected a 0.2% rise in the reported month. The core Retail Sales, stripping the auto motor fuel sales, rose 1.3% MoM, compared to the previous revised growth of 0.2% and the estimated 0.3% reading. The annual Retail Sales in the UK climbed 5.0% in April versus March's 1.9%, while the core Retail Sales also grew 5.3% in the same month versus 2.6% previous revision....
	    	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...	    
	    	As the U.S. government shutdown disrupts federal employee paychecks across the country, it also exacerbates the financial hardship of attorneys who represent the poorest members of society when they...