Trade Deals Lose Markets Potency as EU Deal Makes Little Splash
Markets around the world posted relatively small moves Monday, with modest losses in European equities and the euro, while US stocks ended flat. By comparison, when the US-Japan trade deal was announced last week, Japanese and US shares both rallied sharply.
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CNN
a minute ago
- CNN
Hassett says Trump ‘wants his own people' at the Bureau of Labor Statistics after firing commissioner
National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett on Sunday defended Donald Trump's decision to fire Bureau of Labor Statistics Commissioner Erika McEntarfer, claiming the president 'wants his own people there.' Last week, a weaker-than-expected jobs report proved to be a sore spot for the economy — and the president. The Bureau of Labor Statistics' monthly jobs report on Friday showed the US economy added just 73,000 jobs in July. The monthly totals for May and June were also revised down by a combined 258,000 jobs. After the report was released, Trump posted to Truth Social that 'today's Jobs Numbers were RIGGED in order to make the Republicans, and ME, look bad.' Trump later announced he was firing McEntarfer. Hassett did not provide evidence that the report was incorrect, saying on NBC's 'Meet the Press' that the 'revisions are hard evidence' that the jobs data was rigged. 'What we need is a fresh set of eyes over the BLS,' Hassett said. During an appearance on 'Fox News Sunday,' Hassett said that if he ran the BLS and had 'the biggest downward revision in 50 years, I would have a really, really detailed report explaining why it happened.' He claimed without evidence that there are 'partisan patterns' in the jobless data and that 'data can't be propaganda.' Former BLS Commissioner William Beach, who was nominated by Trump during his first term in 2017 and also served under former President Joe Biden, said Sunday on CNN's 'State of the Union' that he will still believe the data coming from future jobs reports despite the firing of McEntarfer, but that he wants Trump to 'back off on his rhetoric' against McEntarfer and the bureau. Beach also called the firing 'groundless,' saying it undermines credibility in the bureau and raises questions about the perception of future reports. Former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers said Sunday on ABC's 'This Week' that Trump's claims that the jobs numbers were rigged were 'a preposterous charge.' 'There is no conceivable way that the head of the BLS could have manipulated this number,' Summers said. 'This is the stuff of democracies giving way to authoritarianism.' He added that the jobs report suggests the economy could 'tip over to a recession,' and 'the risk is greater' than before. Hassett said on 'Meet the Press' that deals with US trading partners are 'more or less locked in' as new tariffs are set to go into effect Thursday. 'There'll have to be some dancing around the edges when it comes to what we mean when we do this or that,' Hassett said, adding that it ultimately comes down to whether Trump 'likes those deals.' The Trump administration in April promised '90 deals in 90 days' but fell well short of that, with Hassett claiming frameworks with about eight major trading partners. Those include 15% tariffs on the European Union, Japan and South Korea. Such trade agreements, which maintained tariff rates of varying degrees, were listed alongside an array of new tariff rates on many of the United States' trading partners in Trump's announcement last week, with some of the highest duties imposed on Brazil (50%), Myanmar (40%) and Switzerland (39%). Many of the duties, most of which will go into effect Thursday, are still lower than their April 2 'Liberation Day' rates. While the rate cut in tariffs drew some sighs of relief from economists and investors who feared duties as high as 72% or 90% on some countries, there are still concerns about the impact of the new August tariffs and how financial markets will react. 'These tariffs are not job creators,' Summers said on 'The Week.' He used the steel and automobile industries as examples of where jobs could become less competitive 'when they try to compete all over the world.' Hassett on 'Meet the Press' ruled out Trump changing course on tariffs if markets were to react negatively 'because these are the final (trade) deals.' The United States still does not have a deal with China as the August 12 deadline looms since the US and China agreed to a 90-day truce in Geneva, Switzerland. US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said Sunday that a trade deal with Beijing could be delayed further. 'That's what's under discussion right now. I would say that our conversations with the Chinese have been very positive,' Greer said on CBS News' 'Face the Nation,' adding that Chinese President Xi Jinping and Trump 'have had conversations.' The United States and China could both be severely weakened by a full-blown trade war. The United States relies on China for consumer electronics; rare-earth minerals used in the manufacture of electric vehicles and for military applications and robotics; pharmaceuticals used in lifesaving medicines; and more basic staples of daily life, including clothing and shoes. US exports of produce like soybeans and sorghum to China are vital to the livelihoods of American farmers. The Trump administration has touted that companies and other countries pay the tariffs, not consumers. But the prices of some American goods have increased in recent months, as toys, furniture, apparel and footwear are becoming increasingly expensive, according to a DataWeave analysis of 200,000 products. CNN's Stephen Collinson, Alicia Wallace and Christian Sierra contributed to this report.
Business Insider
9 minutes ago
- Business Insider
Fujitsu to Develop 10,000-Qubit Quantum System by 2030 With Japan's Strategic Support
As we reported last week, Japan is expanding its push into quantum computing with a $335 million investment aimed at building domestic capacity. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry will fund more than 10 companies, including Fujitsu (FJTSY) and KDDI (KDDIY). The focus spans both hardware and software, with support for superconducting and optical quantum systems. Elevate Your Investing Strategy: Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Now, the latest news suggests Fujitsu plans to build a superconducting quantum computer with over 10,000 physical qubits and 250 logical qubits by fiscal 2030. The project is part of Japan's post- 5G R&D program, which runs through 2027 under the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO). Fujitsu will lead this effort in partnership with research institutions, including RIKEN and AIST. Shares of Fujitsu are up 10% over the past five trading days. Japan-Backed Quantum Plan Supports Fujitsu's Growth Path The upcoming machine will use Fujitsu's STAR architecture, an early-stage fault-tolerant design first announced in 2024. According to the company, this approach is well-suited for materials science and energy modeling, two early use cases with strong computational needs. In 2025, Fujitsu launched a 256-qubit superconducting system, developed under the RIKEN collaboration that began in 2021. The company now plans to install a 1,000-qubit machine at its new facility in 2026, as a stepping stone toward the larger 10,000-qubit target. In parallel, Fujitsu is working on diamond spin-based qubits in collaboration with Delft University of Technology and QuTech. The company expects to integrate these with superconducting chips by fiscal 2035 to build a 1,000 logical qubit system. Fujitsu is also developing its next-generation high-performance computing platform, powered by the FUJITSU-MONAKA processor line, which will support both classical and quantum workloads. Japan's broader quantum strategy calls for 10 million domestic users by 2030 and aims to create over $320 billion in new market value. Regional innovation hubs and a new research center, G-QuAT, will support talent development and commercial use. While quantum computing remains a long-term play, Fujitsu's government-backed roadmap signals continued investment in high-tech infrastructure across Japan. Fujitsu's Technical Indicators Fujitsu's short-term technical indicators are mixed, with a Sell signal on momentum but a Strong Buy based on moving averages, supported by a share price above both the 20-day and 50-day trend lines.
Yahoo
29 minutes ago
- Yahoo
The Fed is concerned. This economist explains exactly why.
KPMG US chief economist Diane Swonk joins Market Domination with Josh Lipton to discuss what the Federal Reserve is concerned about when it comes to price stability and tariffs. To watch more expert insights and analysis on the latest market action, check out more Market Domination. Sign in to access your portfolio
