Many people in China cheered the meeting Thursday between President Xi Jinping and U.S. President Donald Trump, after months of escalating bilateral tensions. Every time the two leaders meet, it helps ease tensions and creates a "positive atmosphere," Alex Hongcai Xu, chair of Beijing Honglve Consulting, said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. "This atmosphere is beneficial for negotiations." "Each side lowering tariffs to below 10% would benefit capital flows and cooperation," Xu said. He noted that China can likely buy more U.S. soybeans and U.S.-made Boeing airplanes. Trump said Thursday...
Pakistan shot down 12 drones from India that violated its airspace, the military said on Thursday, a day after Indian strikes on multiple targets in the country fanned fears of a larger military conflict between the nuclear-armed neighbours. India sent Israeli Harop drones to multiple locations, including the two largest cities of Karachi and Lahore, and their debris is being collected, Pakistan military spokesperson Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said. "Indian drones continue to be sent into Pakistan airspace...(India) will continue to pay dearly for this naked aggression," he said. India's...
Quoting the Chinese Embassy in the United States (US), the highly influential Chinese media Global Times said early Thursday (08/05) that Beijing is unlikely to lower tariffs before talks in Switzerland begin. Key quote "When asked to comment on the US statement that the US will not lower tariffs before negotiations begin and implying that the talks were not initiated by the US side, following China's recent announcement of upcoming talks with the US side, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy." "Second, China consistently resolutely opposes the abuse of tariffs by the US. China will...
India and Pakistan on Wednesday exchanged military strikes for the sixth time since 1947, when Britain withdrew from the subcontinent and both countries gained independence. In that time, both countries have acquired nuclear weapons, simultaneously raising the stakes of any conflict while limiting how far tensions can escalate. That dynamic appeared to be playing out in the latest clashes over the disputed region of Kashmir, with both governments on Wednesday stressing the non-escalatory nature of their actions even as Pakistan warned that more was likely to come. But while militarily both...
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but said the risks of both higher inflation and unemployment had risen, further clouding the economic outlook as the U.S. central bank grapples with the impact of Trump administration tariff policies. The economy overall has "continued to expand at a solid pace," the Federal Open Market Committee said in a policy statement, attributing a drop in first-quarter output to record imports as businesses and households rushed to front-run new import taxes. The labor market remained "solid" and inflation was still "somewhat elevated," it...
Pakistan says it has shot down five Indian planes and captured Indian soldiers in retaliation for an Indian military strike early Wednesday. The shooting down of the jets was not a "hostile act" and Pakistan was defending its territory, Defense Minister Khawaja Muhammad Asif said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Wednesday. India's Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for information sent outside Indian business hours. The Indian government has previously said it has carried out targeted military strikes against Pakistan, an expected move after it vowed to...
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...
US President Donald Trump said Thursday that he had agreed with President Xi Jinping to cut tariffs on China in exchange for Beijing cracking down on illegal fentanyl trade, resuming purchases of...