Trump looks like he is ‘in control' after a ‘great week'
Political analyst Joe Siracusa says the US President has had a 'great week' amid his successful strikes on Iran, getting most NATO members to increase defence spending and passing a major hurdle in getting his 'Big Beautiful Bill' through the Senate.
'The President has had a great week; he can tell his own story about Iran, he can say he pushed the NATO ministers around, and now he has a budget coming down the pike, so he looks like he's in control,' Mr Siracusa told Sky News Australia.
'He is going to have a very good 4th of July.'
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James Reilly, a senior markets economist at Capital Economics, noted the dollar had fallen by more at this stage in the year than in any previous year since the US moved to a free-floating exchange rate in 1973. "At this point, further weakness could become self-reinforcing as underhedged European/Asian portfolios chase the move," he added. "So, we suspect that this could be a pivotal period for the greenback - either it turns around here or there is another five per cent or so fall around the corner." In commodity markets, the general revival in risk sentiment has undermined gold, which slipped to $US3,266 ($A4,999) an ounce and further away from April's record top of $US3,500 ($A5,357). Oil prices continued to struggle on concerns about plans for increased output from OPEC+, which contributed to a 12 per cent slide last week. Brent dropped a further 55 cents to $US67.22 ($A102.88) a barrel, while US crude eased 68 cents to $US64.84 ($A99.24) per barrel.