UK inflation jumps more than expected to 3.6% in year to June
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Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
Gold heads for weekly dip, platinum hits highest in more than a decade
July 18 (Reuters) - Gold traded flat on Friday and was headed for a weekly fall, weighed down by an overall stronger dollar and solid U.S. economic data, while platinum scaled its highest level since August 2014. Spot gold was unchanged at $3,337.59 per ounce, as of 0156 GMT. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1% to $3,343.20. Bullion has declined 0.5% so far this week. The dollar edged 0.1% lower against its rivals on Friday, but was headed for a second straight weekly gain. A stronger dollar makes greenback-priced bullion more expensive for other currency holders. "We are starting to see data coming in that is still supporting a rather vigilant U.S. economy and potentially market participants are still looking at a situation where we are not expecting a very dovish Fed," OANDA senior market analyst Kelvin Wong said. Data showed on Thursday that U.S. retail sales rose more than expected in June, advancing 0.6% last month after an unrevised 0.9% drop in May. U.S. initial jobless claims were better than expected, dropping 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 221,000 for the week ended July 12. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 235,000 claims for the week. The strong data showed the world's largest economy remained on a stable footing, supporting the Federal Reserve's hesitance to resume monetary policy easing. However, Fed Governor Christopher Waller said he continues to believe the U.S. central bank should cut interest rates at the end of this month amid mounting risks to the economy. Gold, often considered a safe haven during times of economic uncertainty, tends to do well in a low-interest-rate environment. Meanwhile, investors closely watched trade negotiations as U.S. President Donald Trump broadened his tariff war. Elsewhere, spot platinum rose 1% to $1,472.20 per ounce, its highest since August 2014, while palladium climbed 1.4% to $1,297.78, its highest since August 2023. Silver was flat at $38.12.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Germany's Merz admits Europe was free-riding on the US
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has accepted US accusations that Europe was doing too little to fund its own defence and security, but now believes they are on the same page."We know we have to do more on our own and we have been free-riders in the past," he told the BBC's Today Programme, "they're asking us to do more and we are doing more."Merz was in the UK to boost defence ties with Germany, as part of a historic friendship treaty that also aims to tackle irregular migration and promote youth war with Ukraine has framed the early weeks of his chancellorship, as has US President Donald Trump's threat to impose 30% import tariffs on European Union exports from 1 August. Merz told Nick Robinson, in his first UK broadcast interview as chancellor, that he had now met Trump three times and they were on good speaking terms: "I think President Trump is on the same page; we are trying to bring this war to an end.""We are on the phone once a week; we are co-ordinating our efforts. One issue is the war in Ukraine, and the second is our trade debates and tariffs."Merz was a vocal supporter of Ukraine on the campaign trail, and visited Kyiv months before he took Germany's centre-right Christian Democrats to victory in elections in days after he was sworn in early in May, he was on a train to Kyiv in a show of solidarity with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and President Emmanuel Macron of France."We are seeing a big threat, and the threat is Russia. And this threat is not only on Ukraine. It's on our peace, on our freedom, on the political order of Europe," he the run-up to the German elections, US Vice-President JD Vance shocked an audience at the Munich Security Conference with a list of accusations against European allies, including the on the remarks, Merz said the government "had to draw our consequences out of that". The message from Vance's "very open manner" had, in other words, been heard loud and clear. Canan Atilgan of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation in London which is closely affiliated to Merz's party believes that had a profound effect on the incoming chancellor: "I think in Munich he thought we lost the Americans - we have to look after ourselves - and then Zelensky in the Oval Office happened." Even before he had been sworn in, the chancellor steered through a change in the German constitution to enable a huge rise in defence spending, saying the rule now for German defence was to do whatever it takes."We are not strong enough, our army is not strong enough, so that's the reason why we are spending a lot of money," he said in his BBC the UK, Germany and France are working on a triangular alliance of major European powers, dubbed the E3, which Merz says will focus not just on security and foreign policy but on economic growth as chancellor said he was now "very close with Keir Starmer" and with the French president too. Macron is due to visit him in Berlin next French leader signed a wide-ranging treaty with Germany in Aachen in 2019, and last week he agreed a deeper defence pact during a state visit to the UK, so the UK-German friendship treaty completes a triangle of bilateral in the plush surroundings of the German embassy, Friedrich Merz was about to head to the Victoria and Albert Museum to sign the pact with the Prime Minister. Merz said the bilateral treaty renewed the two allies' commitment to defend each other - which is not just part of the Nato treaty but was also previously part of their alliance when the UK was in the and German firms already collaborate in making products such as Typhoon Eurofighter jets and Boxer armoured vehicles, and the two governments have agreed to launch joint export campaigns that Downing Street believes could attract billions of are also developing a missile with a range of 2,000km (1,250 miles) and the chancellor later told a press conference that Ukraine would soon receive substantial additional support in "long-range fire".Merz, 69, is regarded as a strong believer in the transatlantic alliance and knows the US well from his years outside politics working for an American investment on the night of his election victory he declared that the Trump administration was "largely indifferent to the fate of Europe", a remark seen at the time as undiplomatic for a if he had since changed his mind, he said he had not, as Trump was "not as clear and as committed as former US presidents were, former US administrations were". The Americans were moving away from Europe and turning to Asia, he observed, and that was why it was important to look at greater independence from American UK has largely escaped the turbulence surrounding US tariffs on its exports, but the European Union is facing a deadline less than two weeks away, and the threat of 30% tariffs on all its trade negotiator Maroš Šefčovič travelled to Washington this week in search of a deal that would spare all 27 member states from a surge in US import sees the high tariffs as unacceptable and killing Germany's export industry."My observation is that the president himself is seeing the challenges and that he is willing to come to an agreement. He gets it." Another important element of the UK-German treaty is Berlin's agreement to change the law to criminalise smugglers storing small boats in Germany for use in illegal Channel crossings. The storage of boats in Germany was revealed by a BBC investigation last chancellor said his government would "do our homework immediately" and expected it would not take long to push through parliament after the summer are also plans for a direct rail link from London to Berlin, and for British and German students to take part in exchanges, which have declined since said he very much hoped that the first people who might see a practical difference from the friendship treaty would be students, so that the younger generation could drive relations between the two allies in the future.
Reuters
2 hours ago
- Reuters
Asian shares track Wall Street higher, yen weak ahead of Japan vote
SYDNEY, July 18 (Reuters) - Asian shares tracked Wall Street higher on Friday as still-strong U.S. economic data and robust corporate earnings offset tariff worries, while the yen headed toward a second successive week of loss ahead of Japan's upper house election. Overnight, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq again closed at record highs as U.S. data including retail sales and jobless claims beat forecasts, indicating a modest improvement in the economy that should give the Federal Reserve time to gauge the inflation impact from higher U.S. tariffs. Streaming giant Netflix (NFLX.O), opens new tab beat Wall Street's lofty expectations for second-quarter earnings in part due to a weaker U.S. dollar. Its share price, however, fell 1.8% in after-hours trading, with analysts saying much of the growth had already been priced in. On Friday, MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS), opens new tab rose 0.8% to its highest since late 2021, bringing the weekly gain to 1.7%. Japan's Nikkei (.N225), opens new tab, however, slipped 0.2%, and the yen was at 148.54 per dollar, down about 0.7% this week after polls showed Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition was in danger of losing its majority in the election on Sunday. Data on Friday showed Japan's core inflation slowed in June due to temporary cuts in utility bills but stayed beyond the central bank's 2% target. The rising cost of living, including the soaring price of rice, is among reasons for Ishiba's declining popularity. "If PM Ishiba decides to resign on an election loss, USDJPY could easily break above 149.7 as it would usher in an initial period of political turbulence," said Jayati Bharadwaj, head of FX strategy at TD Securities. "JPY could reverse the recent dramatic weakness if the ruling coalition wins and is able to make swift progress on a trade deal with Trump." Chinese blue-chips (.CSI300), opens new tab rose 0.3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng index (.HSI), opens new tab gained 1.2%. The Tapei-listed shares of TSMC ( opens new tab, the world's main producer of advanced AI chips, rallied 2.2% after posting record quarterly profit on Thursday, though it said future income might be affected by U.S. tariffs. In the foreign exchange market, U.S. the dollar was on the back foot again on Friday, having bounced 0.3% overnight against major peers on the strong economic data. For the week, it is headed for a second successive gain of 0.6%, bouncing further from a 3-1/2 year low hit over two weeks ago. Fed Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he continues to believe the central bank should cut interest rates at the end of this month, though most officials who have spoken publicly have signalled no desire to move. Fed funds futures imply next to no chance of a move on July 30, while a September rate cut is just about 62% priced in. Treasury yields were slightly lower in Asia. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields slipped 2 basis points to 4.445%, having moved little overnight. Two-year yields also edged 2 bps lower to 3.8981. Oil prices were mostly steady on Friday, after gaining $1 overnight following a fourth day of drones strikes on Iraqi Kurdistan oil fields, pointing to continued risk in the region. U.S. crude inched up 0.2% to $67.66 per barrel and Brent also rose 0.2% to $69.68 a barrel. They, however, lost about 1% for the week. Spot gold prices were steady at $3,337 an ounce but were set for a 0.5% weekly loss.
