Euro zone yields steady ahead of US-Russia summit, US-China trade deadline
Euro zone bond yields opened steady on Monday ahead of a week of major events, including a US-Russia summit on Ukraine peace and a deadline on a US-China trade truce, as market liquidity thins.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet on Friday in Alaska to try to broker peace in Ukraine. It will be the first in-person meeting between a US and Russian leader since former President Joe Biden met Putin in 2021.
Meanwhile, a 90-day truce in the US-China trade war expires on Tuesday, with traders widely expecting the pause to be extended for another 90 days.
German 10-year yields [DE10YT=RR] were little changed from Friday's close at 2.684%, after ending last week up 1 basis point. Yields on Bunds, the benchmark for the wider euro zone, have shown minimal movement so far this month.
Read: US-China truce for stable global trade
Two-year yields [DE2YT=RR], which are more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations, were steady at 1.955%.
With little market-sensitive data due from the euro zone this week, investor focus will be on July US consumer inflation figures due on Tuesday. A softer reading could strengthen expectations for a Federal Reserve rate cut next month.
Commerzbank said euro zone bond supply this week is expected to be the smallest so far this year, limited to a re-opening of German 10-year Bunds and Finnish 10- and 15-year government bonds. Italy has cancelled auctions of 3-year, 7-year and ultralong debt, while Portugal will also refrain from issuing.
Elsewhere, 10-year Italian yields [IT10YT=RR] fell 1 basis point to 3.496%, while French 10-year yields [FR10YT=RR] were unchanged at 3.388%.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Recorder
33 minutes ago
- Business Recorder
Trump says gold will not face tariffs after customs confusion
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Monday that gold imports will not face additional tariffs, days after confusion flared on whether recent hikes applied to certain gold bars – threatening to upend global trade of the precious metal. Trump's comments came after US customs authorities made public a letter saying that gold bars at two standard weights – one kilogram and 100 ounces (2.8 kilos) – should be classified as subject to duties. 'Gold will not be Tariffed!' Trump said on his Truth Social platform, without providing further details. The letter, which was made public last week and dated July 31, was first reported on by the Financial Times, sending the price of gold on the US futures market to a record high. In India, Trump's tariffs spark calls to boycott American goods But a White House official told AFP on Friday that the Trump administeration plans to 'issue an executive order in the near future clarifying misinformation about the tariffing of gold bars and other specialty products.' On Friday, gold for December delivery hit a record high on the Comex, the world's biggest futures market. The concern is whether gold products would be exempt from Trump's 'reciprocal' tariffs impacting goods from dozens of economies including Switzerland, which sees a 39-percent levy. One-kilo bars are the most common form traded on Comex and comprise the bulk of Switzerland's bullion exports to the US, the FT said. The US customs ruling letter, typically used to clarify trade policy, came as a shock amid expectations that gold bars would be classified under a different customs code that spared them from Trump's countrywide levies. Gold, seen as a safe haven investment, already reached record highs this year on tariff worries and geopolitical unrest.
Express Tribune
3 hours ago
- Express Tribune
Trump's tariffs trigger boycott calls against US brands in India
ndia, the world's most populous nation, is a key market for American brands that have rapidly expanded to target a growing base of affluent consumers. PHOTO: REUTERS Listen to article From McDonald's and Coca-Cola to Amazon and Apple, US-based multinationals are facing calls for a boycott in India as business executives and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's supporters stoke anti-American sentiment to protest against US tariffs. India, the world's most populous nation, is a key market for American brands that have rapidly expanded to target a growing base of affluent consumers, many of whom remain infatuated with international labels seen as symbols of upward mobility. India, for example, is the biggest market by users for Meta's WhatsApp, and Domino's has more restaurants than any other brand in the country. Beverages like Pepsi and Coca-Cola dominate store shelves, and people still queue up when a new Apple store opens or a Starbucks cafe offers discounts. Although there is no immediate indication of sales being hit, there is a growing chorus both on social media and offline to buy local and ditch American products after Donald Trump imposed a 50% tariff on goods from India, rattling exporters and straining ties between New Delhi and Washington. Read More: Pakistan, India should talk before it is too late McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Amazon and Apple did not immediately respond to Reuters queries. Manish Chowdhary, co-founder of India's Wow Skin Science, took to LinkedIn with a video message urging support for farmers and startups to make 'Made in India' a 'global obsession,' citing South Korea's global success with its food and beauty products. 'We have lined up for products from thousands of miles away. We have proudly spent on brands that we don't own, while our own makers fight for attention in their own country,' he said. Rahm Shastry, CEO of India's DriveU, which provides an on-call driver service, wrote on LinkedIn: 'India should have its own home-grown Twitter/Google/YouTube/WhatsApp/Facebook — like China has.' Indian retail companies give foreign brands like Starbucks stiff competition domestically, but going global has been a challenge. Indian IT services firms, however, have become deeply embedded in the global economy, with TCS and Infosys providing software solutions worldwide. On Sunday, Modi made a 'special appeal' for self-reliance, telling a gathering in Bengaluru that Indian technology companies make products for the world but 'now is the time for us to give more priority to India's needs.' He did not name any company. Also Read: India faces tough choices under US tariff pressure Don't drag my McPuff into it Even as anti-American protests simmer, Tesla launched its second showroom in India in New Delhi, with Monday's opening attended by Indian commerce ministry and U.S. embassy officials. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch, linked to Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party, held small rallies across India on Sunday, urging people to boycott American brands. 'People are now looking at Indian products. It will take some time to fructify,' Ashwani Mahajan, the group's co-convenor, told Reuters. 'This is a call for nationalism, patriotism.' He also shared a table circulating on WhatsApp, listing Indian brands of bath soaps, toothpaste, and cold drinks that people could choose over foreign ones. On social media, one of the group's campaigns is a graphic titled 'Boycott foreign food chains,' displaying logos of McDonald's and other restaurants. In Uttar Pradesh, Rajat Gupta, 37, dining at a McDonald's in Lucknow on Monday, said he was unconcerned about the tariff protests and simply enjoyed his 49-rupee ($0.55) coffee. 'Tariffs are a matter of diplomacy, and my McPuff, coffee should not be dragged into it,' he said.
Business Recorder
3 hours ago
- Business Recorder
Oil steadies ahead of US-Russia talks
HOUSTON: Oil prices steadied on Monday, after falling more than 4% last week, as investors looked towards talks this week between the U.S. and Russia over the war in Ukraine. Brent crude futures slipped 14 cents, or 0.21%, at $66.45 a barrel by 11:15 a.m. EDT (1515 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 12 cents, or 0.19%, to $63.76. U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that he would meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the war in Ukraine. 'The market is taking out a lot of the Russia war premium because of the expected Trump-Putin meeting, and the market is then also taking out the possibility of the reciprocal tariffs on Russian oil,' said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst with Price Futures Group. The talks follow increased U.S. pressure on Russia, raising the prospect of tighter penalties on Moscow if a peace deal is not reached. Trump set a deadline of last Friday for Russia, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, to agree to peace or have its oil buyers face secondary sanctions. At the same time, Washington is pressing India to reduce purchases of Russian oil. Oil prices have fallen in recent days as market participants lowered supply disruption estimates, probably because the U.S. imposed an extra tariff only on India rather than all buyers of Russian oil, said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo. UBS has lowered its year-end Brent crude forecast to $62 a barrel from $68, citing higher supply from South America and resilient output from sanctioned countries. Indian demand had fallen short of its expectations of late, the bank said, and it expected OPEC+ to pause its production increases unless larger unexpected supply disruptions emerge. OPEC's oil output rose further in July after an OPEC+ agreement to raise production, a Reuters survey found on Friday, although the hike was limited by Iraq making additional cuts and by drone attacks on Kurdish oilfields. 'The balance right now is between OPEC not raising production as much as anticipated versus the possibility that there will be a Ukraine ceasefire deal, and Russian oil might start to flow freely, that balance has oil bouncing around like a yo-yo right now,' Price Futures' Flynn added. Elsewhere, an Exxon Mobil-led consortium began crude production four months earlier than expected at a fourth floating production, storage and offloading vessel in Guyana, Exxon said on Friday. Separately, data from the National Bureau of Statistics on Saturday showed China's producer prices fell more than expected in July.
