Chinese President Xi Jinping pressed U.S. President Donald Trump on the status of the self-governing island of Taiwan and urged his counterpart to maintain better relations, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry. Xi told Trump that Taiwan's return to China was an important part of the post-World War II international order, according to a statement from the call. The Chinese leader also said the two countries should maintain the positive momentum generated during their meeting last month in South Korea and expand cooperation, the statement said. The two leaders also discussed Russia's...
Back-to-back calls between U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of Japan and China have so far done little to defuse the diplomatic spat occurring between Beijing and Tokyo, as experts warn that a de-escalation of the crisis remains nowhere in sight. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi spoke with Trump on Tuesday, hours after he held a separate call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Takaichi, in remarks to the media after her call with Trump, said that she discussed China relations during their conversation. The flurry of calls followed a dispute triggered by Takaichi's recent...
US Producer Prices rose 2.7% in September from a year earlier, according to the latest figures from the Bureau of Labour Statistics (BLS). That was broadly in line with expectations, though slightly above August's 2.6% uptick. Stripping out food and energy, core Producer Prices were up 2.9% over the year, above the 2.7% forecast and up from the previous 2.8% increase. Source: Fxstreet
Retail Sales in the US rose by 0.2% on a monthly basis in September to $733.3 billion, the US Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. This print followed the 0.6% increase recorded in August and came in weaker than the market expectation of 0.4%. "Total sales for the July 2025 through September 2025 period were up 4.5 percent (±0.4 percent) from the same period a year ago," the press release read. "The July 2025 to August 2025 percent change was unrevised from up 0.6 percent (±0.2 percent). Retail trade sales were up 0.1 percent (±0.5 percent)* from August 2025, and up 3.9 percent (±0.5...
The US government posted a higher deficit of $284 billion for October in a report delayed by the recent federal government shutdown, reflecting record tariff revenue offset by the shift of some November benefit payments to last month's data, the Treasury Department said Tuesday. Budget results for the first month of fiscal 2026 were delayed by the 43-day shutdown of many federal agencies, which caused delays in some payments, such as government employee salaries, a Treasury official said. Last month's deficit rose $27 billion, or 10%, from the $257 billion deficit recorded in October 2024,...