The economic activity in the United States' (US) manufacturing sector continued to contract in October, with the Institute for Supply Management's (ISM) Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dropping to 48.7 from 49.1 in September. This reading came in weaker than the market expectation of 49.5. Other details of the PMI report showed that the Employment Index edged higher to 46 from 45.3 in this period, while the New Orders Index improved to 49.4 from 48.9. Finally, the Prices Pair Index, the input inflation component of the survey, declined to 58 from 61.9. Source: FXstreet
Private business in the US added 37K workers to their payrolls in May 2025, the lowest since March 2023, compared to a downwardly revised 60K in April and forecasts of 115K. The services sector added 36K jobs, led by leisure/hospitality (38K), financial activities (20K) and information (8K) while job losses occurred in professional/business services (-17K), education/health (-13K) and trade/transportation/utilities (-4K). Also, the goods producing sector lost 2K jobs as falls in natural resources/mining (-5K) and manufacturing (-3K) offset a rise of 6K jobs in construction. "After a strong...
Alarm over China's stranglehold on critical minerals grew on Tuesday as global automakers joined their U.S. counterparts to complain that restrictions by China on exports of rare earth alloys, mixtures and magnets could cause production delays and outages without a quick solution. German automakers became the latest to warn that China's export restrictions threaten to shut down production and rattle their local economies, following a similar complaint from an Indian EV maker last week. China's decision in April to suspend exports of a wide range of rare earths and related magnets has...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed a proclamation raising his tariffs on steel and aluminum to 50% from 25%, making good on his earlier threat of higher levies on the two commodities. Trump said that the move was aimed at bolstering U.S. national security, which he claimed was compromised by the country's heavy dependence on steel and aluminum imports. The higher duties will be effective from Wednesday. "I have determined that it is necessary to increase the previously described steel and aluminum tariffs to adjust the imports of steel and aluminum articles and their derivative...
U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday making official his vow to double tariffs on steel and aluminum, White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters in a briefing. Trump on Friday announced that he would increase tariffs on the two metals from 25% to 50%. On Monday, U.S. steel and aluminum prices jumped while shares of foreign steelmakers fell. Source : Reuters
President Donald Trump attacked fiscal conservative Rand Paul as "crazy" on Tuesday morning as he urged reluctant Republican senators to move quickly on his massive tax and spending package. The Kentucky senator had previously said on CNBC that he would not vote for the bill signed by the president because it would raise the legal U.S. debt limit. "I disagree with that. It's not conservative," said Paul, who has also argued that the tax measure would add too much to the national debt. Trump quickly responded with a series of social media posts, saying the senator "never has a practical or...
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...
As the U.S. government shutdown disrupts federal employee paychecks across the country, it also exacerbates the financial hardship of attorneys who represent the poorest members of society when they...