Latest news with #IsraelIranConflict
Yahoo
an hour ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The dollar sees a rebound after US strikes Iran, but can it continue?
The dollar rose on Monday as uncertainty over the Israel Iran conflict persisted following US strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend. By around 2.45 CEST, the Dollar Index had risen 0.61% in daily trading to 99.31. Over the month, it showed a 0.19% increase, although its year-to-date value was still down almost 9%, failing to win back losses linked to erratic policies from the Trump administration. US President Donald Trump said that the weekend strikes had caused 'monumental damage', although some Iranian officials downplayed the impact. The full extent of the damage could not immediately be determined by the UN's nuclear watchdog. Israel — meanwhile — continued with its strikes on Iran on Monday, while Tehran vowed that it would 'never surrender to bullying and oppression'. Several nations warned Iran against a retaliatory closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a shipping lane responsible for around 20% of global oil and gas flows. 'In this morning's trading session, the dollar staged an expected rebound. The demonstration of US military strength, as well as the fear of higher oil prices, weakened the euro,' said ING economists in a note. Higher oil prices would likely drive up inflation and discourage the US Federal Reserve from cutting rates in the near future. This would spell bad news for US consumers but would simultaneously increase the dollar's attractiveness to investors. 'Looking ahead, one of the key questions is whether US involvement in the conflict could restore the dollar's safe-haven appeal. Here, a crucial factor will be the duration of any potential Strait of Hormuz blockade. The longer such a blockade lasts, the higher the likelihood that the value of safe-haven alternatives like the euro and yen is eroded, and the dollar can enjoy a decent recovery,' said ING economists. Related Energy in Europe is also at stake as Israel-Iran conflict escalates Is Trump destroying the dollar - and what does it mean for the euro? The greenback's value has dropped significantly this year as policies from the Trump administration have spooked investors, damaging the currency's status as a safe-haven asset. Signals worrying investors are not solely linked to trade policy, but also include a high US deficit, the cost-slashing bureau DOGE, sudden cuts to foreign aid, withdrawals from international treaties, and the prospect of financial deregulation. Greg Hirt, chief investment officer with Allianz Global Investors, told Euronews that 'structural issues around a twin deficit and the Trump administration's volatile handling of tariffs should continue to weigh on an overvalued US dollar'. Even so, he noted that the 'short term potential for higher oil prices will likely affect the Chinese and European economies to a greater extent, as they are more dependent on oil imports than the US'. Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics, reiterated this point, noting that 'the US economy is essentially energy independent but others are not, including Japan as it imports most of its oil from the Middle East'. Sweet told Euronews that dollar gains are positive but still muted as 'currency markets are in a wait and see mode'. There is also significant uncertainty around President Trump's tariff deadline, with a 90-day pause on so-called 'reciprocal' duties set to expire on 9 July. Sign in to access your portfolio
The National
9 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The National
Dave Chappelle roasts Trump, Israel-Iran conflict and DJ Khaled's silence: 'This isn't how it works, champ'
Dave Chappelle roasted Donald Trump's handling of the Israel-Iran conflict during his show in Abu Dhabi on Friday night. Travelling to the Gulf days after a ceasefire went into effect, the American comedian made light of the US President's unpredictability during his performance at a sold-out Etihad Arena as part of Abu Dhabi Comedy Season. 'Trump – I don't know about this guy. I can't tell if he's going to do good or not,' Chapelle said, adding: 'What a week you guys must have had over here in the Middle East.' The 51-year-old entertainer also brought up the US President's Saturday Truth Social post announcing the air strikes on three Iranian nuclear facilities. 'Trump wrote that 'we did a meticulously perfect attack. We have disabled their nuclear facility.' And then at the end of the post he said, 'and now is the time for peace!' Word? I don't think that's how this works, champ,' Chappelle said. The comedian also made reference to the March security scandal surrounding US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who shared attack plans on the Houthis through his Signal account. 'Trump bombed Iran, in an attack that was carefully planned on WhatsApp,' Chapelle said. Chappelle made light of growing concerns in the US regarding the ongoing regional conflict, saying: 'Everybody in America is scared. It's not good when Bible places are in the news. That means it might be the end of times. And if it is, you know what? I had a good run.' When an audience member yelled out the name of Palestinian-American musician DJ Khaled, the comedian questioned why the DJ has remained silent on the ongoing war in Gaza. 'DJ Khaled, let me tell you something. For a Palestinian, this man is awfully quiet right now. And as a Palestinian, how could you be that quiet right now? And why are you so fat? People are starving. He's the only fat Palestinian on earth right now,' Chappelle joked. Chappelle has been outspoken about the suffering of Palestinians ever since the Israel-Gaza war began. Last year, during his show in Abu Dhabi, he described Israel's actions in Gaza as ' genocide ' to cheers from the audience. He's tempered his criticism of Trump since his re-election, urging the American leader to have empathy for the people of Palestine during his January appearance on Saturday Night Live. And while he did not comment directly on Palestine in his latest UAE performance, he did end by making his stance on the matter clear. 'Now that I'm a big powerful voice in America, I've learnt that I have to be careful. I can get in some kind of trouble and they'll try to extort me and put words in my mouth so that I come out here and lie to you,' Chappelle said. 'So if that ever happens, we need a phrase. It has to be something that I would never say. So that if I say it, you know not to listen to anything I say after that. You ready? The phrase is: I stand with Israel.' Abu Dhabi Comedy Season 2025 is set to conclude next month with US comedian Bill Burr's performance on July 12.
CTV News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- CTV News
Canada issues latest update on efforts to help Canadians leave Middle East amid Israel-Iran conflict
Canada's Foreign Minister Anita Anand speaks at a press conference at the Federal Foreign Office in Berlin, Thursday June 26, 2025. (Bernd von Jutrczenka/dpa via AP) Global Affairs Canada (GAC) has issued its latest update in its effort to assist Canadians hoping to leave the Middle East, amid a tenuous ceasefire between Israel and Iran. According to GAC, more than 800 Canadians, permanent residents and eligible family members have left Israel, Iran and the West Bank, as of Thursday. The department also says it's offering consular services upon arrival in third safe locations, and is arranging transportation for Canadians hoping to leave the region. GAC has arranged for five more people to travel on buses from the West Bank to Jordan, and for seven more people to fly from Jordan to Greece on a chartered flight. In a post on X on Thursday, Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand also issued an update, writing that Israeli and Iranian airspace are open , though commercial flights may be limited. Canadians in the Middle East are being encouraged to register with GAC. As of Tuesday, there were 5,601 Canadians in Iran, 6,146 in Israel, 450 in the West Bank and Gaza, 7,112 in Qatar, and 1,017 in Iraq, according to GAC. 'Tensions between Israel and Iran remain high,' Anand wrote. The conflict between Israel and Iran escalated two weeks ago, when Israel attacked nuclear and military sites in Iran. Following Iranian retaliation and further assault from both sides, the U.S. also struck Iranian sites. The adversaries have since accepted a ceasefire, according to U.S. President Donald Trump. 'Israeli authorities have largely lifted restrictions across the country, allowing for a return to full activity,' according to the update from GAC. 'Reports from Iran point to a gradual return to normal activities.' The government has faced criticism for lacking efficiency in helping Canadians leave the Middle East, including from former Conservative MPs Michelle Ferreri and Rick Perkins, both of whom were in Israel when the conflict escalated. Both have since returned home. According to GAC, the department will reduce the frequency of its updates going forward as the ceasefire holds, but will issue them when there is new information.
Reuters
20 hours ago
- Business
- Reuters
MidEast war highlights key cross-asset trends to watch: Pelosky
NEW YORK, June 27 (Reuters) - The war between Israel and Iran offered a real-time look at some new global cross-asset dynamics that can help investors understand the state of play in the first half of 2025 and what they can expect in the next six months. Amid all the noise of the 12-day conflict, three points stood out. First, the U.S. dollar failed to mount any major advance during the roughly two weeks of the conflict, even though the DXY dollar index was sitting at a three-year low when Israel attacked Iranian nuclear facilities on June 13. Second, the U.S. Treasury market also failed to catch a bid amid the fighting, with the 10-year yield rising around 10 basis points right after the initial strikes. While yields have slipped since then, that appears to be related more to Federal Reserve dynamics than geopolitical drama. And finally, there was oil, where the story was mixed. Prices jumped around 15% after fighting broke out but then rapidly tumbled to pre-conflict levels once it appeared unlikely that there would be any significant supply disruption. So what does this episode tell us? The real-time signals in the dollar and Treasury market reinforce the growing consensus that the U.S. may no longer be the world's safe haven, the world's firefighter, if you will. Instead, in certain instances, America may now be the cause of the fire. This speaks to perhaps the most important market trend of the past six months: the underperformance of U.S. stocks relative to Europe and Asia. Investors appear to be warming to the potential for a secular change in global equity leadership away from the U.S. and toward the rest of the world. The MSCI ACWX index of non-U.S. equities is up more than 13% year-to-date versus a roughly 1% gain for the S&P 500. If this secular leadership shift occurs, it would be accompanied by more dollar weakness as a sustained period of capital repatriation out of the U.S. plays out. This, too, is already showing signs of manifesting with the U.S. dollar index down roughly 10% year-to-date. The upshot of these trends is a rare outcome, notes European investment bank Societe Generale. A broadly diversified portfolio including non-U.S. equity, corporate credit and commodities has outperformed U.S. equity in the year to date. That has only happened two times, on an annual basis, since 2009, according to SocGen. Given all this, what asset classes may be well positioned to outperform in the second half of the year and beyond? One contender could be a long unloved asset class: commodities. First, commodity prices are linked to global economic activity, and there are some bullish growth signals emerging despite the uncertainty about tariffs and geopolitics. For instance, the Citi Global Economic Surprise Index has recently picked up sharply, led by Europe. On top of this, there is the Trump administration's new 'run hot' approach to the U.S. economy. As Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated in an X post, opens new tab on May 18, the administration's goal is to stabilize the debt burden by ensuring nominal GDP remains above interest rates. This reduces the risk of a near-term U.S. recession and, in turn, improves the global growth outlook. And as I've previously argued, we could be in the beginnings of a long global growth cycle underpinned by increased spending in Europe, Asia and North America, the three nodes of what I refer to as the TriPolar World. And that would be highly bullish for commodities. Next, if the U.S. dollar continues to weaken, this should provide a tailwind for commodity demand given that most of these contracts are priced in dollars. Continued dollar weakness, in turn, should allow emerging market central banks with policy space to cut interest rates and stimulate their economies without having to fear the negative exchange rate fallout. This should support both global growth and demand for commodities. In terms of performance, commodities have lagged relative to stocks over the past decade, with the S&P GSCI commodity index generating an annualized return under 3% over that period, opens new tab, compared to more than 11% for the S&P 500, opens new tab. Related to this, consider that the mining industry represented only around 1% of global stocks' market cap, a record-low, as of mid-May, according to an analysis by Crescat Capital. And, importantly, commodities have recently appeared to be on the verge of breaking out on a technical basis, with the S&P GSCI index briefly eclipsing 580 last week as the Middle East conflict was heating up. Of course, commodities could continue to lag if the Trump administration's chaotic economic policies weigh on global growth. But the president's actions since mid-April suggest that he has little stomach for upsetting markets or growth. It's also possible that the 'short dollar' trade, which has become crowded, could reverse. But considering how over-exposed many foreign investors were to U.S. assets coming into 2025, this trade may still have room to run. We obviously have no crystal ball to tell us whether Middle East tensions will rise again, providing more of a tailwind for energy commodities. But investors often wait for moments when fundamentals and technicals are aligned, and the cross-asset moves in recent weeks suggest that could now be the case for commodities. (The views expressed here are those of Jay Pelosky, the Founder and Global Strategist at TPW Advisory, a NYC-based investment advisory firm. You can follow Jay on Substack at The Tri Polar World, opens new tab). Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), opens new tab, opens new tab, your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. Markets are moving faster than ever. ROI, opens new tab, opens new tab can help you keep up. Follow ROI on LinkedIn, opens new tab, opens new tab and X., opens new tab
Al Arabiya
a day ago
- Politics
- Al Arabiya
US talks to Pakistan about promoting ‘durable peace' between Israel, Iran
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif held a call on Thursday in which they discussed promoting 'a durable peace between Israel and Iran,' the State Department said in a statement. Why it's important President Donald Trump, earlier this week, announced a ceasefire between US ally Israel and its regional rival Iran to halt a war that began on June 13 when Israel attacked Iran. Trump met Pakistan's army chief Field Marshal Asim Munir at the White House last week where they discussed Iran, which Trump said Pakistan knew about better than most other countries. A section of Pakistan's embassy in Washington represents Iran's interests in the United States, as Tehran does not have diplomatic relations with the US Key quotes 'The two leaders acknowledged the importance of working together to promote a durable peace between Israel and Iran,' the US State Department said in a statement. 'Secretary Rubio emphasized Iran can never develop or acquire a nuclear weapon.' Context The Israel-Iran conflict had raised alarms in a region that was already on edge since the start of Israel's war in Gaza in October 2023. The US struck Iran's nuclear sites over the last weekend and Iran targeted a US base in Qatar on Monday in retaliation, before Trump announced an Israel-Iran ceasefire. Israel is the only Middle Eastern country widely believed to have nuclear weapons and said its war against Iran aimed to prevent Tehran from developing its own nuclear weapons. Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty while Israel is not. Pakistan condemned Israeli and US strikes on Iran even as it said earlier this month it was nominating Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize for his role in bringing a four-day India-Pakistan conflict to an end last month.
