U.S. President Donald Trump said he will meet with his budget director Russell Vought on Thursday to determine which "Democrat Agencies" to cut, as he looks to inflict pain on his political opposition in the second day of a government shutdown. "I can't believe the Radical Left Democrats gave me this unprecedented opportunity," Trump said in a social media post. Trump has already frozen federal transit and green-energy funding for Democratic-leaning states and has threatened to fire more federal workers during the shutdown, which began on Wednesday due to a partisan standoff in...
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Thursday he thought Vladimir Putin was ready to make a deal on ending the war in Ukraine after the Russian president floated the prospect of a nuclear arms agreement on the eve of their summit in Alaska. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and his European allies have intensified their efforts this week to prevent any deal between the U.S. and Russia emerging from Friday's summit that leaves Ukraine vulnerable to future attack. "I think he's going to make a deal," Trump said in a Fox News radio interview, adding that if the meeting went well he would...
Core producer prices in the United States, which exclude food and energy, rose by 0.9% over a month in July 2025, marking the strongest increase since March 2022, after being flat in June. Figures came above market estimates of a 0.2% increase. On a yearly basis, core producer prices surged by 3.3% in July, after an upwardly revised 2.4% rise in the prior month and also surpassing forecasts of a 2.5% advance. Source: Trading Economics
Applications for US unemployment benefits edged lower last week, suggesting employers remain reluctant to layoff workers. Initial claims decreased by 3,000 to 224,000 in the week ended Aug. 9, which was about in line with economists' forecasts. Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, fell to 1.95 million in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. Source: Bloomberg
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is due in London to meet British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday, to take stock ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's key talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. Zelenskiy, who was in Germany on Wednesday, has been working with European leaders to press Trump not to allow Putin to carve up Ukraine's territory at the Alaska summit. He is due to meet Starmer at 9.30 a.m. local time (0830 GMT) at the British premier's official residence, 10 Downing Street. On Wednesday, Trump joined a Germany-hosted virtual meeting...
The UK economy fared better than expected in the second quarter, bringing some relief for Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves but raising the bar to further interest-rate cuts from the Bank of England. Gross domestic product rose 0.3%, the Office for National Statistics said Thursday, beating the 0.1% forecast by both private-sector economists and the Bank of England. Output in June alone gained 0.4% — double expectations — following modest declines in the previous two months. The figures suggest the economy held up during what always expected to be a difficult...
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...
The U.S. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long,...