
US yields rise after better than expected manufacturing report
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Longer-dated U.S. Treasury yields rose from three-week lows on Thursday after a better than expected manufacturing report for April, which also showed that tariffs on imported goods were straining supply chains and maintaining elevated prices for inputs.The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its manufacturing PMI dropped to a five-month low of 48.7 last month, beating economists' forecasts for a drop to 48.The survey's measure of prices paid by manufacturers for inputs rose to 69.8, the highest level since June 2022."It's cold comfort that the ISM Manufacturing index came in better than expected. It's more like it came in less bad than expected. The collapse of production and new export orders along with an increase in domestic orders suggests that costs are rising and activity is falling. That's not a great combination," said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management.Traders are balancing the risks that tariffs implemented by U.S. President Donald Trump will slow growth and increase inflation , with higher price pressures potentially delaying when the U.S. Federal Reserve is likely to resume interest rate cuts."What we've heard from the FOMC so far is that they want to prioritise inflation expectations in any case where there's lower growth and stubbornly high inflation," said Will Compernolle, macro strategist at FHN Financial.Yields fell to a more than three-week low earlier on Thursday after data showed that the number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits increased more than expected last week.Friday's employment report for April is expected to show that employers added 130,000 jobs during the month, while the unemployment rate held steady at 4.2%.The labor market has remained relatively resilient, which has allowed the U.S. central bank to keep interest rates on hold as it also watches for signs of a potential resurgence in inflation.Yields surged early last month after U.S. President Donald Trump announced larger than expected tariffs on trading partners, but have fallen since Trump offered a 90-day pause on most tariff increases.Traders are now focused on what deals will be reached between the United States and trading partners and are watching for when the expected impact of the trade levies are seen in the "hard" economic data."If you exclude all of the sentiment surveys and the corporate earnings calls and what you would call anecdotal evidence, there's nothing in the hard data flashing red that says the Fed has to cut rates right now. So, they're waiting for any of these fears to channel into the hard data," said Compernolle.Fed funds futures traders are pricing in a 68% likelihood of a rate cut in June, and only 7% odds of a rate reduction at the Fed's May 6-7 meeting, according to the CME Group's FedWatch Tool.The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes was last up 3.3 basis points at 4.208%, after earlier reaching 4.124%, the lowest since April 7.The two-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations, rose 1 basis point to 3.631%. It earlier fell to 3.558%, also the lowest since April 7.The yield curve between two-year and 10-year notes steepened by around 2 basis points to 57 basis points.
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Mint
18 minutes ago
- Mint
How Trump's trade war is supercharging fast fashion industry
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From Guangzhou to your wardrobe in days Platforms such as Shein and Temu built their success by offering trend-driven clothing at shockingly low prices. A USD 5 dress or USD 3 top might seem like a bargain, but those prices hide a lot. Much of Shein's production takes place in the so-called 'Shein village' in Guangzhou, China, where workers often sew for 12–14 hours a day under poor conditions to keep pace with the demand for new items. When the US cracked down on Chinese imports, the intention was to make American-made goods more competitive. This included raising the tariff on Chinese goods as high as 145 per cent , and closing the 'de minimis' loophole, which had allowed imports under USD 800 to enter tariff-free. But these tariffs did not halt ultra-fast fashion. They just rerouted production to countries with lower tariffs and even lower labour costs. The Philippines, with a comparatively low tariff rate of 17 per cent, emerged as a surprising alternative. 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Time of India
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- Time of India
Power shift: How Tesla's turmoil is steering global capital towards India
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First Post
an hour ago
- First Post
US and China to hold trade talks in London focusing on export controls
In the second round of trade talks today in London, the United States and China are set to be focussed on export controls regarding critical technologies and rare earths instead of tariffs. read more US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are seen during an engagement on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka, Japan, in 2019. (Photo: Reuters) The United States and China will hold second round of trade talks in London on Monday. The focus is going to be on export controls instead of tariffs. In recent weeks, both the countries have sought to choke the other's access to critical supply chain elements that they dominate. While the Donald Trump administration has sought to restrict China's access to semiconductors, jet engines, and certain chemicals and machinery, China has restricted the supply of rare earths, which are critical to manufacture virtually everything from cars to fighter planes and electronic chips. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Both the United States and China have accused the other of violating the trade truce reached last month. On May 12, the United States and China reached a truce and agreed to reduce tariffs by 115 per cent for 90 days so talks could continue. However, within days, the Trump administration tightened export controls regarding semiconductors. China responded by not relaxing rare earths' supplies that were halted in April. While Trump has said that China has 'totally' violated the truce and that Chinese leader Xi Jinping 'extremely hard' to make a deal with, China claimed that the United States had 'severely violated the common understandings reached in Geneva'. US-China trade talks to now focus on export controls Unlike the first round of talks in Switzerland's Geneva, the second round of talks in London will be focussed on export controls. The new focus comes as China's s stoppage rare earths supplies has threatened to bring manufacturing units in the United States and elsewhere, including India, to a halt, particularly in sectors like automobiles. This would be a major blow to Trump, who has championed revitalising the US manufacturing industry. The US delegation will be led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent but will also include Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The inclusion of Lutnick, who was not part of talks in Geneva and oversees the US export control regime, reinforces the understanding that talks will be focussed on export controls instead of tariffs. The Chinese delegation will be led by He Lifeng, the vice premier for economic policy who also led the delegations in Geneva. While American negotiators are expected to press for China to relax curbs on the export of rare earths, Chinese officials are expected to press for the removal of US curbs on China's access to semiconductors, jet engines, and other critical technologies, according to Wall Street Journal. There are signs that the two sides may be headed towards achieving an understanding that makes way for an off-ramp. Even though they have accused each other of violating the spirit of talks, Trump said ahead of Monday's talks that conversations with China 'very far advanced' and described a phone call with Xi last week as 'very good' and said 'there should no longer be any questions respecting the complexity of rare-earth products'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD In what is seen as a goodwill gesture, China on Saturday said it had granted a number of export licences related rare earths. 'Up until the phone call, both sides were spiraling toward uncontrolled supply-chain warfare. I think the administration played this card to get China to re-engage and back off the magnet restrictions,' Jimmy Goodrich, a China and technology expert and senior adviser to Rand, told Journal.