The US has signaled it will not relax its August 1 deadline for higher tariffs against the European Union as the bloc struggles to reach a deal on time. Over the weekend, US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he was confident a trade deal with the EU could be reached, but cautioned that the deadline for the 30% base tariffs was fixed. "That's a tight deadline, so on August 1, the new tariffs will go into effect," Lutnick said Sunday on CBS News when asked about his EU tariff deadline. He did hint that negotiations could continue beyond that date, stating: "These are the two largest...
President Donald Trump again criticized Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell as he championed his economic policies and tariff regime during an event Tuesday to mark his 100 days in office. "Inflation is basically down and interest rates are down despite the fact that I have a Fed guy that's not really doing a very good job," Trump said at a rally outside Detroit, Michigan. The president's criticism came despite saying earlier this month that he had no plans to fire the central bank chief, despite ongoing criticism of the Fed's pace of interest rate cuts. The uncertainty surrounding...
U.S. President Donald Trump resumed his criticism of the Federal Reserve on Tuesday evening, claiming that Chair Jerome Powell was not doing a good job and that he knew more about interest rates. Speaking at a rally in Warren, Michigan, commemorating his first 100 days in office, Trump did not mention Powell by name, but largely hinted at his past criticism of the Fed Chair. "Interest rates came down despite the fact that I have a Fed person who's not really doing a good job, but I won't say that… I want to be very nice and respectful to the Fed," Trump said. "You're not supposed to...
US consumer sentiment extended its decline in April, as the Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell from 93.9 (revised from 92.9) to 86.0—its weakest reading since April 2020. Consumer sentiment showed fresh signs of strain in April, as views on current business and labor market conditions softened. The Present Situation Index edged down by 0.9 points to 133.5. More notably, the Expectations Index—which tracks short-term outlooks for income, business activity, and employment—plunged 12.9 points to 54.4. That marks its lowest reading since October 2011 and remains well below the...
Job openings in the United States fell by 288,000 to 7.192 million in March 2025, the lowest in six months and well below market expectations of 7.48 million. The drop was broad-based, with the largest decreases reported for transportation, warehousing, and utilities (-59K), accommodation and food services (-42K), construction (-38K), federal governemnt (-36K), real estate and rental and leasing (-39K), and health care and social assistance (-37K). On the other hand job openings increased in finance and insurance (25K), other services (20K), state and local education (17K), wholesale trade...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Sunday that he did not know whether President Donald Trump had spoken to Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, and that he was unaware of whether trade negotiations were taking place. Speaking during an interview with ABC News' This Week, Bessent said U.S. and Chinese officials had spoken during International Monetary Fund meetings in Washington last week, and that he had also then interacted with his Chinese counterpart. "I had interactions with my Chinese counterpart, but it was more on traditional things like financial stability, global economic...
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...
Russia unleashed a renewed attack on Ukraine, targeting the country's central and western regions with drone and missiles as Kyiv's allies pledged increased air defense protection to help shield the...