The White House update to its tariff schedule is a "welcome development" after challenges caused by a recent U.S. Customs ruling on gold bars, the London Bullion Market Association said on Wednesday. The executive order, issued on September 5 by President Donald Trump, updates the tariff schedule for certain goods, including key gold products. The White House referred to them as reciprocal tariffs. Under the update, gold bars imported from "aligned partner" countries under certain codes of the Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States - including 7108.11.00, 7108.12.50, 7108.13.10,...
U.S. President Donald Trump told European leaders on Thursday that Europe must stop buying Russian oil that he said is helping Moscow fund its war against Ukraine, a White House official said, striking a combative tone amid slow diplomatic progress to end the fighting. Trump joined a call of the "Coalition of the Willing" countries, led by French President Emmanuel Macron, who were meeting in Paris on security guarantees for Kyiv in the event of a peace deal with Russia. "President Macron and European leaders called President Trump into their ‘Coalition of the Willing' meeting. President...
Activity at US service providers expanded in August at the fastest pace in six months on the sharpest acceleration in orders in nearly a year. The Institute for Supply Management's index of services rose 1.9 points last month to 52, the group said Thursday. Readings above 50 indicate expansion, and the figure topped all but one estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists. The new orders index jumped 5.7 points, the most since September, to 56. The business activity index, which parallels the ISM's factory output gauge, climbed to a five-month high of 55. The solid advance in...
High-stakes energy diplomacy in Beijing this week signals China's willingness to challenge US President Donald Trump's efforts to isolate Russia and assert US energy dominance. Chinese President Xi Jinping, sitting alongside Russian President Vladimir Putin, used this week's military parade commemorating the 80th anniversary of Japan's defeat in World War II to demonstrate Beijing's military and diplomatic clout amid escalating trade tensions with Washington. China backed up the parade with action on Tuesday, when Russian gas giant Gazprom announced that both sides had signed a legally...
US applications for unemployment benefits rose to their highest level since June, adding to evidence that the labor market is cooling. Initial claims rose 8,000 to 237,000 in the week ending August 30. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 230,000 applications. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, were little changed at 1.94 million in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. Companies are increasingly hesitant to hire as they assess the economic impact of President Donald Trump's policies. Hiring...
Hiring at US companies was lower than expected in August, consistent with other evidence of weakening labor demand. Private-sector jobs increased by 54,000, according to ADP Research data released Thursday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for a gain of 68,000. (alg) Source: Bloomberg
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...
Poland shot down a drone in its airspace on Wednesday with the support of military aircraft from its NATO allies. This is the first time a member of the Western military alliance is known to have...