Latest news with #SYDNEY
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wall St slips with Asia stocks as US trade policy confounds
By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) -Losses in Wall Street futures dragged Asian stocks lower on Monday as the latest round of threats in the U.S. tariff wars kept investors on edge, though the fallout was limited by hopes this was mainly bluster by President Donald Trump. Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from August 1, even as they are locked in long negotiations. The European Union said it would extend a suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement, though Germany's finance minister called for firm action if the levies went ahead. Investors have become largely inured to Trump's chaotic policy methods and stocks eased only modestly, while the dollar gained just a fraction on the euro. "It is hard to say whether the muted market response is best characterised by resilience or complacency," said Taylor Nugent, a senior markets economist at NAB. "But it is difficult to price the array of headlines purportedly defining where tariffs will sit from August when negotiations are ongoing." For now, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were little changed, while Japan's Nikkei eased 0.5%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both eased 0.4%. Earnings season kicks off this week with the major banks leading the pack on Tuesday. S&P companies are expected to have increased profits by 5.8% from the year-earlier period, down from an expectation of a 10.2% gain on April 1, according to LSEG IBES. Analysts at BofA noted the bar was low for earnings with consensus seeing a slowdown to 4% growth, from the previous quarter's 13%. "We expect a modest beat of 2%, below the 3% average and last quarter's 6% figure, though medium-term, we are more constructive," they wrote in a note. PRESSURING POWELL In bond markets, Treasuries got a very marginal safety bid and 10-year yields held at 4.41%. Futures for the Federal Reserve funds rate edged higher as markets priced in a little more policy easing for next year. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signalled a patient outlook on cuts, Trump is piling up political pressure for more aggressive stimulus. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett over the weekend warned Trump might have grounds to fire Powell because of renovation cost overruns at the Fed's Washington headquarters. Trump said on Sunday that it would be a great thing if Powell stepped down. Figures on U.S. consumer prices for June are due on Tuesday and could finally start to show early upward pressure from tariffs, though retailers still have pre-levy inventory to draw on and some companies are absorbing the costs into margins. The impact on supply chain costs could show in producer price and import price figures this week, while a reading on retail sales will indicate how consumers are faring. There is also a raft of data out from China starting with June trade on Monday, followed by retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product the day after. Among currencies, the euro dipped 0.2% on the tariff news to $1.1665, edging away from its recent four-year top of $1.1830. The dollar added 0.1% on the yen to 147.53 and a similar amount on its currency index to 98.008. The dollar also gained 0.3% on the Mexican peso to 18.6900, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confident a trade deal could be reached before the August deadline. In commodity markets, gold picked up a modest safe-haven bid and rose 0.3% to $3,366 an ounce. [GOL/] Oil prices edged higher on speculation Trump could announce stiffer sanctions on Russia later on Monday, including levies on major customers buying Russian oil. [O/R] Brent edged up 0.1% to $70.45 a barrel, while U.S. crude firmed slightly to $0.68.50 per barrel.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Wall St slips with Asia stocks as US trade policy confounds
By Wayne Cole SYDNEY (Reuters) -Losses in Wall Street futures dragged Asian stocks lower on Monday as the latest round of threats in the U.S. tariff wars kept investors on edge, though the fallout was limited by hopes this was mainly bluster by President Donald Trump. Trump on Saturday said he would impose a 30% tariff on most imports from the EU and Mexico from August 1, even as they are locked in long negotiations. The European Union said it would extend a suspension of countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until early August and continue to press for a negotiated settlement, though Germany's finance minister called for firm action if the levies went ahead. Investors have become largely inured to Trump's chaotic policy methods and stocks eased only modestly, while the dollar gained just a fraction on the euro. "It is hard to say whether the muted market response is best characterised by resilience or complacency," said Taylor Nugent, a senior markets economist at NAB. "But it is difficult to price the array of headlines purportedly defining where tariffs will sit from August when negotiations are ongoing." For now, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan were little changed, while Japan's Nikkei eased 0.5%. S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures both eased 0.4%. Earnings season kicks off this week with the major banks leading the pack on Tuesday. S&P companies are expected to have increased profits by 5.8% from the year-earlier period, down from an expectation of a 10.2% gain on April 1, according to LSEG IBES. Analysts at BofA noted the bar was low for earnings with consensus seeing a slowdown to 4% growth, from the previous quarter's 13%. "We expect a modest beat of 2%, below the 3% average and last quarter's 6% figure, though medium-term, we are more constructive," they wrote in a note. PRESSURING POWELL In bond markets, Treasuries got a very marginal safety bid and 10-year yields held at 4.41%. Futures for the Federal Reserve funds rate edged higher as markets priced in a little more policy easing for next year. While Fed Chair Jerome Powell has signalled a patient outlook on cuts, Trump is piling up political pressure for more aggressive stimulus. White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett over the weekend warned Trump might have grounds to fire Powell because of renovation cost overruns at the Fed's Washington headquarters. Trump said on Sunday that it would be a great thing if Powell stepped down. Figures on U.S. consumer prices for June are due on Tuesday and could finally start to show early upward pressure from tariffs, though retailers still have pre-levy inventory to draw on and some companies are absorbing the costs into margins. The impact on supply chain costs could show in producer price and import price figures this week, while a reading on retail sales will indicate how consumers are faring. There is also a raft of data out from China starting with June trade on Monday, followed by retail sales, industrial output and gross domestic product the day after. Among currencies, the euro dipped 0.2% on the tariff news to $1.1665, edging away from its recent four-year top of $1.1830. The dollar added 0.1% on the yen to 147.53 and a similar amount on its currency index to 98.008. The dollar also gained 0.3% on the Mexican peso to 18.6900, with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum confident a trade deal could be reached before the August deadline. In commodity markets, gold picked up a modest safe-haven bid and rose 0.3% to $3,366 an ounce. [GOL/] Oil prices edged higher on speculation Trump could announce stiffer sanctions on Russia later on Monday, including levies on major customers buying Russian oil. [O/R] Brent edged up 0.1% to $70.45 a barrel, while U.S. crude firmed slightly to $0.68.50 per barrel. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Arab News
3 days ago
- Politics
- Arab News
France says Australia defense ties repaired after submarine row
SYDNEY: France's defense relations with Australia have recovered after their 2021 bust-up over a major submarine contract, the country's ambassador said expressed its 'strong regrets' when Australia tore up a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from France, Ambassador Pierre-Andre Imbert the 2022 election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, the defense relationship had been 'restarted,' he said.'Now, the first pillar of our cooperation is defense and security, so we have a very good level of cooperation,' the ambassador told AFP as French forces joined major military drills around Australia ditched the French deal, it opted instead to acquire nuclear-powered vessels in a new three-way AUKUS pact with the United States and a US defense official last month revealed that a review of AUKUS was underway to ensure it 'aligned with the President's America First agenda' and that the US defense industrial base was 'meeting our needs.'Under the AUKUS deal, Australia would acquire at least three Virginia class submarines from the United States within 15 years, eventually manufacturing its own US Navy has 24 Virginia-class vessels but American shipyards are struggling to meet production targets set at two new boats each if France would ever consider discussing a new submarine deal with Australia if the AUKUS agreement was torpedoed by the review, the French ambassador said he was reluctant to speculate.'I would say it's more an issue for Australia for the moment. And of course, we are always discussing with our friends of Australia,' he said.'But for the moment, they have chosen AUKUS,' he said. 'If this changes (and) they ask, we'll see.'More than 30,000 military personnel from 19 nations are set to join the three-week, annual Talisman Sabre military exercises, which started Sunday across Australia and Papua New Guinea.
CNA
3 days ago
- Politics
- CNA
France says Australia defence ties repaired after submarine row
SYDNEY: France's defence relations with Australia have recovered after their 2021 bust-up over a major submarine contract, the country's ambassador said on Sunday (Jul 13). Paris expressed its "strong regrets" when Australia tore up a multibillion-dollar deal to buy a fleet of diesel-powered submarines from France, Ambassador Pierre-Andre Imbert said. Since the 2022 election of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, however, the defence relationship had been "restarted", he said. "Now, the first pillar of our cooperation is defence and security, so we have a very good level of cooperation," the ambassador told AFP as French forces joined major military drills around Australia. When Australia ditched the French deal, it opted instead to acquire nuclear-powered vessels in a new three-way AUKUS pact with the United States and Britain. But a US defence official last month revealed that a review of AUKUS was underway to ensure it "aligned with the President's America First agenda" and that the US defence industrial base was "meeting our needs". Under the AUKUS deal, Australia would acquire at least three Virginia-class submarines from the US within 15 years, eventually manufacturing its own subs. The US Navy has 24 Virginia-class vessels but American shipyards are struggling to meet production targets set at two new boats each year. Asked if France would ever consider discussing a new submarine deal with Australia if the AUKUS agreement was torpedoed by the review, the French ambassador said he was reluctant to speculate. "I would say it's more an issue for Australia for the moment. And of course, we are always discussing with our friends of Australia," he said. "But for the moment, they have chosen AUKUS," he said. "If this changes (and) they ask, we'll see."
