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,...
Australian inflation (CPI) rose 2.8% year-on-year in July, the fastest pace since July 2024. The housing cost component jumped 3.6% year-on-year, highlighting price pressures from rents and utilities. This figure was slightly above market expectations, signaling that the disinflation process is underway, but not yet complete. In the bond market, Australian 3-year bond futures fell (yields rose) shortly after the hotter-than-expected CPI release. However, this reaction is expected to be temporary. The global picture still points to the Federal Reserve moving toward interest rate cuts, a key...
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was ready for a legal battle after moving to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over allegations she falsified mortgage documents. Meanwhile, the central bank stated it would respect any court ruling in Cook's legal challenge against her dismissal. Trump's attempt to remove her is unprecedented in the Fed's 111-year history as a nominally independent U.S. institution, raising alarms over political pressure on monetary policy. Reuters said that if Cook's seat is vacated, Trump would gain the chance to appoint a majority of the Fed's seven-member...
The U.S. Department of Commerce issued affirmative determinations of anti-dumping and countervailing duties against 10 countries on Tuesday after investigations into corrosion-resistant steel products. The determinations cover $2.9 billion in imports from Australia, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, the Netherlands, South Africa, Taiwan, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and Vietnam, the Commerce Department said in a statement. "Commerce made its final determinations that imports of CORE into the United States from ten trading partners were being dumped and/or subsidized," the department...
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Tuesday that customs duty revenues from President Donald Trump's tariffs may top $500 billion a year, with a substantial jump from July to August and likely a bigger jump in September. Bessent told a White House Cabinet meeting that his prior estimate of a $300 billion annual tariff collection rate was too low. "We had a substantial jump from July to August, and I think we're going to see a bigger jump from August to September," Bessent said. "So I think we could be on our way well over half a trillion, maybe towards a trillion-dollar number....
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 97.4 in August from 98.7 in July, compared with a larger decrease expected to a reading of 96.5 in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET. The present situation reading decreased to 131.2 from 132.8, while the expectations reading decreased to 74.8 from 76.0. The current assessment of business conditions improved in August while the assessment of labor market conditions was more negative. "Notably, consumers' appraisal of current job availability declined for the eighth consecutive month, but stronger views of current...
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.
It...
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...