Renewed tensions between the United States and Russia have resurfaced following an incident involving an oil tanker, sparking market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Washington's move, associated with tightening oversight and enforcement of sanctions on Russian oil shipments, is viewed by Moscow as provocative and could worsen relations between the two countries. Russia views these actions as an attempt by the United States to suppress Russian energy exports and strengthen its dominance in the global oil market. Meanwhile, Washington argues that these measures...
A White House official said late Thursday that the United States has reached an understanding with China on how to speed up rare earth shipments to the U.S., according to the Wall Street Journal. "The administration and China agreed to an additional understanding for a framework to implement the Geneva agreement," a White House official said. The understanding was "about how we can implement the acceleration of rare earth shipments to the U.S. again," Bloomberg quoted U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick as saying, "They're going to ship us rare earths" and "we're going to lift our...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday the outcome of Israel's war with Iran presented opportunities for peace that his country should not waste. In a statement, Netanyahu said: "This victory presents an opportunity for a dramatic widening of peace agreements. We are working on this with enthusiasm. "Alongside the freeing of hostages and defeat of Hamas, there is a window of opportunity that must not be missed. We cannot waste even a single day." Earlier in the day, Israel Hayom newspaper, quoting an unnamed source, said Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump agreed in a...
President Donald Trump's tariffs will likely increase inflation and could also drive up unemployment, Federal Reserve Governor Michael Barr said on Thursday in remarks that signaled that he - like most of his Fed colleagues - wants to wait for more clarity before making any interest-rate cuts. "Low-income households can ill afford increases in prices, and that's why it is so important that we bring inflation back down to our target," Barr said at a community development event at the Cleveland Fed. The Fed targets 2% inflation, and while the latest read by the Fed's targeted measure was...
Pending home sales in the United States rose by 1.8% from the previous month in April of 2025, trimming the 6.3% drop in the previous month and contrasting with market expectations of a 0.3% drop. The rebound was broadly distributed through the whole country, led by the West (6%) and the Northeast (2.1%), while growth was less pronounced in the South (1%) and the Midwest (0.3%). "Consistent job gains and rising wages are modestly helping the housing market," said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. "Hourly wages are increasing faster than home prices. However, mortgage rate fluctuations are...
Initial jobless claims in the US fell by 10,000 from the previous week to 236,000 on the week ending June 21st, less than market expectations that they would remain unchanged. Still, the result remained firmly above this year's average, suggesting some softening in the US labor market. Additionally, outstanding claims rose by 37,000 to 1,974,000 in the week prior, well above market expectations of 1,950,000, and the highest since November 2021 to suggest that the unemployed population is having more difficulties in finding suitable employment. Source: Trading Economics
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
European stock indices closed marginally lower on Wednesday as equities took a breather from their recent strong momentum, while investors continued to assess the outlook for the ECB's policy this...
The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's massive tariffs, which rocked markets in April, is one of the next major tests for US stocks and bonds.
Equity markets...