Latest news with #economiccalendar
Forbes
14-07-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Earnings Week; Inflation Data; More Tariffs
Streaming giant Netflix is scheduled to report later this week. (Photo by Patrick T. Fallon / AFP) ... More (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images) Key Takeaways With little in the way of economic or earnings data, stocks were little changed last week. The biggest movers were the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Russell 2000, both of which fell roughly 1%. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were lower by roughly 0.25%. But weekend tariff news, a busy economic calendar and the kickoff of earnings season will give markets plenty of data to digest this week. Let's begin with earnings. According to FactSet, overall earnings for the S&P 500 are expected to up 4.9% in the second quarter, year-over-year. Banks will begin reporting Tuesday morning before the open with Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo all scheduled to release their earnings. We'll hear from more big banks as well as regional banks throughout the week and then on Thursday, the first tech company, Netflix, will also announce their earnings. While I'm interested in all of these announcements, I'm particularly paying attention to Netflix as the company continues to make a push into live sporting events. Heading into the week, Netflix has an expected move of roughly $93 by Friday. Turning to the economic calendar, there is quite a bit scheduled. On Tuesday, the Consumer Price Index (CPI) is due out. That will be followed on Wednesday by the Producer Price Index (PPI). On Thursday, we'll get the latest Retail Sales Report and then on Friday, both the Michigan Consumer Sentiment and Consumer Expectations Reports are slated for release. Both the CPI and PPI will be particularly interesting, and a lot of analysts are seeing these reports as no-win reports, which I'll explain. Last week, President Trump began sending out letters to nations announcing tariff rates that will go into effect on August 1st. Both South Korea and Japan will be tariffed at 25%. On Saturday, Trump announced tariffs on the European Union (EU) and Mexico would be set at 30%, higher than the 15 - 20% range he had suggested earlier last week. Therefore, if CPI and/or PPI show an uptick in inflation, and we've yet to see the brunt of tariffs, it could cause concerns that inflation will continue moving higher. On the other hand, if the reports show inflation to be relatively muted, we still have yet to see the most severe tariffs kick in, and the reports could therefore be discounted. One bright spot with respect to tariffs was the response from the EU. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Sunday that the EU would hold off on implementing retaliatory tariffs for now. The EU will use the time between now and the beginning of August to try and strike a deal with the Trump Administration on trade. While the tariff news is fluid and continues to send ripples through the market, it's worth noting they are just that, ripples, as opposed to the tsunami-sized waves we saw back in April. Therefore, it seems as though markets are adapting to more quickly digesting tariff news. For today, I'm keeping an eye on bonds and silver. President Trump has continued to put pressure on Fed President Jerome Powell to step down and that appears to have done nothing to help increase confidence in the bond market where the 30-year yield is at 4.98% and the benchmark 10-year note is at 4.43%. I'm also watching silver, which is trading at levels we haven't seen since 2011. All of the metals have moved significantly higher, following last week's announcement of copper tariffs. Lastly, according to UBS, on average it takes the S&P 500 105 days to see a pullback of at least 5% when the index is at an all-time high. Now, ask any trader and they'll tell you past performance doesn't mean anything. However, it is interesting to note when markets are enthusiastic, they tend to stay enthusiastic. As always, I would stick with your investing plan and long term objectives. tastytrade, Inc. commentary for educational purposes only. This content is not, nor is intended to be, trading or investment advice or a recommendation that any investment product or strategy is suitable for any person.
Sky News
10-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News
The spending review: Five things you need to know
Even for those of us who follow these kinds of things on a regular basis, the spending review is, frankly, a bit of a headache. This is one of the biggest moments in Britain's economic calendar - bigger, in some respects, than the annual budget. After all, these reviews, which set departmental spending totals for years to come, only happen every few years, while budgets come around every 12 months (or sometimes more often). Yet trying to get your head around the spending review - in particular this year's spending review - is a far more fraught exercise than with the budget. In large part that's because the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the quasi-independent body that scrutinises the government's figures, is not playing a part this time around. There will be no OBR report to cast light, or doubt, on some of the claims from the government. Added to this, the data on government spending are famously abstruse. So perhaps the best place to start when approaching the review is to take a deep breath and a step back. With that in mind, here are five things you really need to know about the 2025 spending review. 1. It's not about all spending That might seem like a strange thing to say. Why would a spending review not concern itself with all government spending? But it turns out this review doesn't even cover the majority of government spending in the coming years. To see what I mean you need to remember that you can split total government spending (£1.4trn in this fiscal year) into two main categories. First there's what you might call non-discretionary spending. Spending on welfare, on pensions, on debt interest. This is spending the government can't really change very easily on a year-to-year basis. It's somewhat uncontrolled, but since civil servants wince at that idea, they have given it a name that suggests precisely the opposite: "annually managed expenditure" or AME. Then there's the spending the government has a little more control over: spending in its departments, from the Ministry of Defence to the NHS to the Home Office. This is known as "departmental spending". This is what the spending review is about - determining what departments spend. The key thing to note here is that these days departmental spending (actually, to confuse things yet further, the Treasury calls it Departmental Expenditure Limits or DEL) is quite a bit smaller than AME (the less controlled bit with benefits, pensions and debt interest costs). In short, this spending review is actually only about a fraction - about 41p in every pound - of government spending. You can break it down further, by the way. Because departmental spending can be split into day-to-day spending (Resource DEL) and investment (capital DEL). But let's stop with the acronyms and move on to the second thing you really need to know. 2. It's a "zero-based" review. Apparently The broad amount the government is planning to spend on its departments was set in stone some time ago. The real task at hand in this review is not to decide the overall departmental spend but something else: how that money is divided up between departments. Consider: in this fiscal year (2025/26) the government is due to spend just over £500bn of your money on day-to-day expenditure. Of that, by far the biggest chunk is going to the NHS (£202bn), followed by education (£94bn), defence (£39bn) and a host of other departments. That much we know. In the next fiscal year, we have a headline figure for how much day-to-day spending to expect across government. What we don't have is that breakdown. How much of the total will be health, education, defence and so on? That, in a sense, is the single biggest question the review will set out to answer. Now, in previous spending reviews the real debate wasn't over those grand departmental totals, but over something else: how much would they increase by in the following years? This time around we are told by Rachel Reeves et al that it's a slightly different philosophy. This time it's a "zero-based review". For anyone from the world of accountancy, this will immediately sound tremendously exciting. A zero-based review starts from the position that the department will have to justify not just an annual increase (or decrease), but every single pound it spends. It is not that far off what Elon Musk was attempting to implement with the DOGE movement in US government - a line-by-line check of spending. That's tremendously ambitious. And typically zero-based reviews tend to throw out some dramatic changes. All of which is to say, in theory, unless you believed government was run with incredibly ruthless efficiency, if this really were a zero-based review, you'd expect those departmental spending numbers to yo-yo dramatically in this review. They certainly shouldn't just be moving by small margins. Is that really what Whitehall will provide us with in this review? Almost certainly not. 3. It's the first multi-year review in ages What we will get, however, is a longer-range set of spending plans than government has been able to provide in a long time. I said at the start that these reviews are typically multi-year affairs, setting budgets many years in advance. However, the last multi-year review happened in the midst of COVID and you have to look back to 2015 for the previous multi year review. That certainty about future budgets matters for any government department attempting to map out its plans and, hopefully, improve public sector productivity in the coming years. So the fact that this review will set spending totals not just for next fiscal year but for the next three years is no small deal. Indeed, for investment spending (which is actually the thing the government will probably spend more time talking about), we get numbers for four successive years. And the chances are that is what the government will most want to talk about. 4. It's not "austerity" One of the big questions that periodically returns to haunt the government is that we are heading for a return to the austerity policies prosecuted by George Osborne after 2010. So it's worth addressing this one quickly. The spending totals implied by this spending review are nothing like those implemented by the coalition government between 2010 and 2015. You get a sense of this when you look at total public spending, not in cash or even inflation-adjusted terms (which is what the Treasury typically likes to show us), but at those figures as a percentage of GDP. Day-to-day spending dropped from 21.5% of GDP in 2009/10 to 15% of GDP in 2016/17. This was one of the sharpest falls in government spending on record. By contrast, the spending envelope for this review will see day-to-day spending increasing rather than decreasing in the coming years. The real question comes back to how that extra spending is divided between departments. Much money has already been promised for the NHS and for defence. That would seem, all else equal, to imply less money for everyone else. But overshadowing everything else is the fact that there's simply not an awful lot of money floating around. 5. It's not a big splurge either While the totals are indeed due to increase in the coming years, they are not due to increase by all that much. Indeed, compared with most multi-year spending reviews in the past, this one is surprisingly small. In each year covered by the 2000 and 2002 comprehensive spending reviews under Gordon Brown, for instance, capital investment grew by 16.3% and 10.6% respectively. This time around, it's due to increase by just 1.3%. Now, granted, that slightly understates it. Include 2025/26 (not part of this review but still a year of spending determined by this Labour government) and the annual average increase is 3.4%. Even so, the overall picture is not one of plenty, but one of moderation. While Rachel Reeves will wax lyrical about the government's growth plans, the numbers in the spending review will tell a somewhat different story. If you can get your head around them, that is.
Sky News
10-06-2025
- Business
- Sky News
The five things you need to know about the spending review
Even for those of us who follow these kinds of things on a regular basis, the spending review is, frankly, a bit of a headache. This is one of the biggest moments in Britain's economic calendar - bigger, in some respects, than the annual budget. After all, these reviews, which set departmental spending totals for years to come, only happen every few years, while budgets come around every 12 months (or sometimes more often). Yet trying to get your head around the spending review - in particular this year's spending review - is a far more fraught exercise than with the budget. In large part that's because the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR), the quasi-independent body that scrutinises the government's figures, is not playing a part this time around. There will be no OBR report to cast light, or doubt, on some of the claims from the government. Added to this, the data on government spending are famously abstruse. So perhaps the best place to start when approaching the review is to take a deep breath and a step back. With that in mind, here are five things you really need to know about the 2025 spending review. 1. It's not about all spending That might seem like a strange thing to say. Why would a spending review not concern itself with all government spending? But it turns out this review doesn't even cover the majority of government spending in the coming years. To see what I mean you need to remember that you can split total government spending (£1.4trn in this fiscal year) into two main categories. First there's what you might call non-discretionary spending. Spending on welfare, on pensions, on debt interest. This is spending the government can't really change very easily on a year-to-year basis. It's somewhat uncontrolled, but since civil servants wince at that idea, they have given it a name that suggests precisely the opposite: "annually managed expenditure" or AME. Then there's the spending the government has a little more control over: spending in its departments, from the Ministry of Defence to the NHS to the Home Office. This is known as "departmental spending". This is what the spending review is about - determining what departments spend. The key thing to note here is that these days departmental spending (actually, to confuse things yet further, the Treasury calls it Departmental Expenditure Limits or DEL) is quite a bit smaller than AME (the less controlled bit with benefits, pensions and debt interest costs). In short, this spending review is actually only about a fraction - about 41p in every pound - of government spending. You can break it down further, by the way. Because departmental spending can be split into day-to-day spending (Resource DEL) and investment (capital DEL). But let's stop with the acronyms and move on to the second thing you really need to know. 2. It's a "zero-based" review. Apparently The broad amount the government is planning to spend on its departments was set in stone some time ago. The real task at hand in this review is not to decide the overall departmental spend but something else: how that money is divided up between departments. Consider: in this fiscal year (2025/26) the government is due to spend just over £500bn of your money on day-to-day expenditure. Of that, by far the biggest chunk is going to the NHS (£202bn), followed by education (£94bn), defence (£39bn) and a host of other departments. That much we know. In the next fiscal year, we have a headline figure for how much day-to-day spending to expect across government. What we don't have is that breakdown. How much of the total will be health, education, defence and so on? That, in a sense, is the single biggest question the review will set out to answer. Now, in previous spending reviews the real debate wasn't over those grand departmental totals, but over something else: how much would they increase by in the following years? This time around we are told by Rachel Reeves et al that it's a slightly different philosophy. This time it's a "zero-based review". For anyone from the world of accountancy, this will immediately sound tremendously exciting. A zero-based review starts from the position that the department will have to justify not just an annual increase (or decrease), but every single pound it spends. It is not that far off what Elon Musk was attempting to implement with the DOGE movement in US government - a line-by-line check of spending. That's tremendously ambitious. And typically zero-based reviews tend to throw out some dramatic changes. All of which is to say, in theory, unless you believed government was run with incredibly ruthless efficiency, if this really were a zero-based review, you'd expect those departmental spending numbers to yo-yo dramatically in this review. They certainly shouldn't just be moving by small margins. Is that really what Whitehall will provide us with in this review? Almost certainly not. 3. It's the first multi-year review in ages What we will get, however, is a longer-range set of spending plans than government has been able to provide in a long time. I said at the start that these reviews are typically multi-year affairs, setting budgets many years in advance. However, the last multi-year review happened in the midst of COVID and you have to look back to 2015 for the last multi-year review. That certainty about future budgets matters for any government department attempting to map out its plans and, hopefully, improve public sector productivity in the coming years. So the fact that this review will set spending totals not just for next fiscal year but for the next three years is no small deal. Indeed, for investment spending (which is actually the thing the government will probably spend more time talking about), we get numbers for four successive years. And the chances are that is what the government will most want to talk about. 4. It's not "austerity" One of the big questions that periodically returns to haunt the government is that we are heading for a return to the austerity policies prosecuted by George Osborne after 2010. So it's worth addressing this one quickly. The spending totals implied by this spending review are nothing like those implemented by the coalition government between 2010 and 2015. You get a sense of this when you look at total public spending, not in cash or even inflation-adjusted terms (which is what the Treasury typically likes to show us), but at those figures as a percentage of GDP. Day-to-day spending dropped from 21.5% of GDP in 2009/10 to 15% of GDP in 2016/17. This was one of the sharpest falls in government spending on record. By contrast, the spending envelope for this review will see day-to-day spending increasing rather than decreasing in the coming years. The real question comes back to how that extra spending is divided between departments. Much money has already been promised for the NHS and for defence. That would seem, all else equal, to imply less money for everyone else. But overshadowing everything else is the fact that there's simply not an awful lot of money floating around. 5. It's not a big splurge either While the totals are indeed due to increase in the coming years, they are not due to increase by all that much. Indeed, compared with most multi-year spending reviews in the past, this one is surprisingly small. In each year covered by the 2000 and 2002 comprehensive spending reviews under Gordon Brown, for instance, capital investment grew by 16.3% and 10.6% respectively. This time around, it's due to increase by just 1.3%. Now, granted, that slightly understates it. Include 2025/26 (not part of this review but still a year of spending determined by this Labour government) and the annual average increase is 3.4%. Even so, the overall picture is not one of plenty, but one of moderation. While Rachel Reeves will wax lyrical about the government's growth plans, the numbers in the spending review will tell a somewhat different story. If you can get your head around them, that is.
Zawya
02-06-2025
- Business
- Zawya
June 2025 Market Outlook: Essential Economic and Geopolitical Events for Traders by Octa Broker
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 June 2025 - June 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most eventful months of the year for global markets. For traders, this means opportunity—but also volatility. The economic calendar is packed with macroeconomic data releases and central bank meetings, while geopolitical risks remain close to the surface. Beyond the usual inflation prints and interest rate decisions, markets will also have to digest key developments around global diplomacy: the NATO and G7 summits, peace negotiations in Eastern Europe, U.S. trade talks with China and the European Union, as well as debates around nuclear policy in the Middle East. Add to this the lingering fiscal tensions in Washington, and it's clear that June won't be business as usual. Octa Broker explains why the economic calendar is worth monitoring and what events to watch out for in June 2025. The Role of the Economic Calendar for Traders For traders, the economic calendar is more than a schedule—it's a risk map. It flags: central bank rate decisions inflation and employment reports Gross Domestic Product (GDP) estimates and growth outlooks high-level summits with potential for market-moving headlines. These events affect not just macro sentiment but also short-term liquidity and intraday volatility. And when several collide—as they will in June—market reactions tend to be sharper, faster, and harder to fade. Anticipating such events in advance allows traders to capitalise on potential opportunities and adjust risk management—some even avoid trading during volatility. Key Economic Events in June 2025 Here are some major events to follow in June: June 4: Bank of Canada (BoC) interest rate decision June 5: European Central Bank (ECB) rate decision June 6: U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls June 11: U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) June 15–17: Group-7 (G7) Summit June 17: Bank of Japan (BoJ) rate decision June 18: Federal Reserve (Fed) rate decision—includes Economic Projections and the Dot Plot June 19: Swiss National Bank (SNB) rate decision June 19: Bank of England (BoE) rate decision June 20: People's Bank of China (PBoC) rate decision June 24–25: North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit June 26–27: European Council Summit June 27: U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) Price Index June 30: German CPI Potential Impact of June Economic and Geopolitical Events For Traders Heightened Volatility Expected June is shaping up to be an eventful month for currencies and rate-sensitive assets, with seven major central bank meetings scheduled—the BoC, BoE, BoJ, ECB, Fed, SNB, and PBoC. Traders can anticipate heightened volatility not only in the major USD-based pairs but also in equity indices, individual stocks, and commodities. June's Federal Reserve meeting is particularly important, accompanied by updated Economic Projections and the Dot Plot—forward-looking instruments via which markets infer future rate trajectories. Surprises can unleash dramatic repricing in Treasury yields, gold, and risk assets. Macroeconomic Divergence as a Market Drive r Inflation paths remain divergent. In the U.S., core CPI slowed to 2.3% YoY, potentially softening the Fed's stance. Meanwhile, ECB officials appear divided: Klaas Knot said inflation risks remain uncertain, while Pierre Wunsch hinted that rates could fall below 2%. This split supports tactical positioning in EUR/USD and EUR/GBP, particularly around central bank commentary. Geopolitical Events Could Disrupt Risk Sentimen t June's summits aren't ceremonial. The G7 Summit will cover trade security and energy cooperation, while the NATO meeting will focus on defence spending and alliance posture. Any hawkish statements or surprises around Ukraine, China, or the Middle East could move commodity markets—particularly, oil and gold—and affect defence-sector equities. Bond Market Tensions Could Spill Into FX and Equities Rising Treasury yields, recently breaching 5.0% on 20-year note, are fueling concern over U.S. fiscal policy. As Moody's warned, the sustainability of U.S. debt is becoming a market risk. Traders should watch for safe-haven rotation into gold, Bitcoin, Swiss franc (CHF), and the Japanese yen (JPY). Japan, however, is facing debt troubles of its own, as yields on 30-year bonds recently climbed to multi-decade highs, prompting calls to BoJ to either increase bond buying or halt its plans to gradually reduce such purchases. Either way, traders should keep a close eye on both the U.S. and the Japanese bond markets. Ongoing Trade Negotiations Remain a Wildcard The May U.S.-China joint statement hinted at easing tensions—but markets remain sceptical. There are still several critical obstacles to a comprehensive trade agreement between the parties. For example, on May 12th, China's Ministry of Commerce strengthened control over strategic mineral exports, on which the U.S. is highly dependent. Other critical sticking points include technology transfer issues and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as China's growing semiconductor self-sufficiency efforts are not particularly favoured in Washington. Furthermore, there is still uncertainty as to whether any meaningful progress in trade talks between the U.S. and EU can be achieved in June. Although the parties agreed to fast-track the negotiations, some business leaders are sceptical. June won't be a month for passive positioning. With central banks sending mixed signals, inflation data diverging, and global diplomacy back on the front pages, traders will have to juggle more than just charts. This is the kind of environment where preparation matters more than prediction. Knowing when the Fed drops its Dot Plot is as important as watching where oil prices go after a NATO statement. With overlapping narratives and rising volatility, it's not about calling the top or bottom—it's about managing risk around known catalysts and staying nimble when the unknowns hit. Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to engage in any investment activity. It does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation, or individual needs. Any action you take based on this content is at your sole discretion and risk. Octa and its affiliates accept no liability for any losses or consequences resulting from reliance on this material. Trading involves risks and may not be suitable for all investors. Use your expertise wisely and evaluate all associated risks before making an investment decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Availability of products and services may vary by jurisdiction. Please ensure compliance with your local laws before accessing them. Hashtag: #octa The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Octa Octa is an international CFD broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and various services used by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 52 million trading accounts. To help its clients reach their investment goals, Octa offers free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools. The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including improving educational infrastructure and funding short-notice relief projects to support local communities. In Southeast Asia, Octa received the 'Best Trading Platform Malaysia 2024' and the 'Most Reliable Broker Asia 2023' awards from Brands and Business Magazine and International Global Forex Awards, respectively. Octa
Associated Press
02-06-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
June 2025 Market Outlook: Essential Economic and Geopolitical Events for Traders by Octa Broker
KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach Newswire - 2 June 2025 - June 2025 is shaping up to be one of the most eventful months of the year for global markets. For traders, this means opportunity—but also volatility. The economic calendar is packed with macroeconomic data releases and central bank meetings, while geopolitical risks remain close to the surface. Octa Broker Beyond the usual inflation prints and interest rate decisions, markets will also have to digest key developments around global diplomacy: the NATO and G7 summits, peace negotiations in Eastern Europe, U.S. trade talks with China and the European Union, as well as debates around nuclear policy in the Middle East. Add to this the lingering fiscal tensions in Washington, and it's clear that June won't be business as usual. Octa Broker explains why the economic calendar is worth monitoring and what events to watch out for in June 2025. The Role of the Economic Calendar for Traders For traders, the economic calendar is more than a schedule—it's a risk map. It flags: These events affect not just macro sentiment but also short-term liquidity and intraday volatility. And when several collide—as they will in June—market reactions tend to be sharper, faster, and harder to fade. Anticipating such events in advance allows traders to capitalise on potential opportunities and adjust risk management—some even avoid trading during volatility. Key Economic Events in June 2025 Here are some major events to follow in June: Potential Impact of June Economic and Geopolitical Events For Traders Heightened Volatility Expected June is shaping up to be an eventful month for currencies and rate-sensitive assets, with seven major central bank meetings scheduled—the BoC, BoE, BoJ, ECB, Fed, SNB, and PBoC. Traders can anticipate heightened volatility not only in the major USD-based pairs but also in equity indices, individual stocks, and commodities. June's Federal Reserve meeting is particularly important, accompanied by updated Economic Projections and the Dot Plot—forward-looking instruments via which markets infer future rate trajectories. Surprises can unleash dramatic repricing in Treasury yields, gold, and risk assets. Macroeconomic Divergence as a Market Drive r Inflation paths remain divergent. In the U.S., core CPI slowed to 2.3% YoY, potentially softening the Fed's stance. Meanwhile, ECB officials appear divided: Klaas Knot said inflation risks remain uncertain, while Pierre Wunsch hinted that rates could fall below 2%. This split supports tactical positioning in EUR/USD and EUR/GBP, particularly around central bank commentary. Geopolitical Events Could Disrupt Risk Sentimen t June's summits aren't ceremonial. The G7 Summit will cover trade security and energy cooperation, while the NATO meeting will focus on defence spending and alliance posture. Any hawkish statements or surprises around Ukraine, China, or the Middle East could move commodity markets—particularly, oil and gold—and affect defence-sector equities. Bond Market Tensions Could Spill Into FX and Equities Rising Treasury yields, recently breaching 5.0% on 20-year note, are fueling concern over U.S. fiscal policy. As Moody's warned, the sustainability of U.S. debt is becoming a market risk. Traders should watch for safe-haven rotation into gold, Bitcoin, Swiss franc (CHF), and the Japanese yen (JPY). Japan, however, is facing debt troubles of its own, as yields on 30-year bonds recently climbed to multi-decade highs, prompting calls to BoJ to either increase bond buying or halt its plans to gradually reduce such purchases. Either way, traders should keep a close eye on both the U.S. and the Japanese bond markets. Ongoing Trade Negotiations Remain a Wildcard The May U.S.-China joint statement hinted at easing tensions—but markets remain sceptical. There are still several critical obstacles to a comprehensive trade agreement between the parties. For example, on May 12th, China's Ministry of Commerce strengthened control over strategic mineral exports, on which the U.S. is highly dependent. Other critical sticking points include technology transfer issues and Artificial Intelligence (AI), as China's growing semiconductor self-sufficiency efforts are not particularly favoured in Washington. Furthermore, there is still uncertainty as to whether any meaningful progress in trade talks between the U.S. and EU can be achieved in June. Although the parties agreed to fast-track the negotiations, some business leaders are sceptical. June won't be a month for passive positioning. With central banks sending mixed signals, inflation data diverging, and global diplomacy back on the front pages, traders will have to juggle more than just charts. This is the kind of environment where preparation matters more than prediction. Knowing when the Fed drops its Dot Plot is as important as watching where oil prices go after a NATO statement. With overlapping narratives and rising volatility, it's not about calling the top or bottom—it's about managing risk around known catalysts and staying nimble when the unknowns hit. Disclaimer: This content is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to engage in any investment activity. It does not take into account your investment objectives, financial situation, or individual needs. Any action you take based on this content is at your sole discretion and risk. Octa and its affiliates accept no liability for any losses or consequences resulting from reliance on this material. Trading involves risks and may not be suitable for all investors. Use your expertise wisely and evaluate all associated risks before making an investment decision. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results. Availability of products and services may vary by jurisdiction. Please ensure compliance with your local laws before accessing them. Hashtag: #octa The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. Octa Octa is an international CFD broker that has been providing online trading services worldwide since 2011. It offers commission-free access to financial markets and various services used by clients from 180 countries who have opened more than 52 million trading accounts. To help its clients reach their investment goals, Octa offers free educational webinars, articles, and analytical tools. The company is involved in a comprehensive network of charitable and humanitarian initiatives, including improving educational infrastructure and funding short-notice relief projects to support local communities. In Southeast Asia, Octa received the 'Best Trading Platform Malaysia 2024' and the 'Most Reliable Broker Asia 2023' awards from Brands and Business Magazine and International Global Forex Awards, respectively.
