
Bessent emerges as possible contender to succeed Fed's Powell
US treasury secretary Scott Bessent leads Donald Trump's global trade overhaul and plays a key role in tax and regulatory changes. (AP pic)
WASHINGTON : US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has emerged as a possible candidate to succeed Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, Bloomberg News reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter, a report immediately denied by the White House.
Bessent joins a small list of Fed chair candidates that has included Kevin Warsh, a former Fed official whom Trump previously interviewed for Treasury secretary, Bloomberg added.
A White House official dismissed the Bloomberg report as false.
Trump said on Friday he would name a successor to Powell very soon. Bloomberg, citing two unidentified people familiar with the matter, reported that formal interviews for the job have not begun.
Bessent is leading Trump's sweeping global trade overhaul and has a hand in pushing for changes to taxes and regulation.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Borneo Post
28 minutes ago
- Borneo Post
China says approved 'certain number' of rare-earth export licences
A photo taken in 2012 shows a rare earth refinery near Baotou, China. – AFP photo BEIJING (June 12): China said today it had issued a 'certain number' of licences to export rare earths after US President Donald Trump hailed this week's deal that would see the country provide the vital elements 'up front'. The economic superpowers said after talks in London that they had achieved progress in dialling down a brutal trade war that has roiled markets and threatened global supply chain chaos. A top priority for Washington has been ensuring supply of the rare earths essential for products including electric vehicles, hard drives and national defence equipment. China — which dominates global production of the elements — began requiring export licences in early April, a move widely viewed as a response to blistering tariffs imposed by Trump. The US president said Wednesday on social media that 'full magnets, and any necessary rare earths, will be supplied, up front, by China' as part of the deal, which was now 'done' — pending final approval by him and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. The commerce ministry in Beijing said today that 'China, as a responsible major country, fully takes into account the legitimate needs and concerns of all countries in the civilian sector' related to rare earths. 'It reviews export licence applications for rare earth-related items in accordance with laws and regulations,' spokesman He Yadong told a news conference, adding that a 'certain number of compliant applications have already been approved'. However, he declined to provide a specific number when asked how many licences had been approved by Beijing since talks between the two sides in Switzerland last month. 'We will continue to strengthen the approval process for compliant applications,' He added. – AFP China donald trump rare earth trade war us


New Straits Times
29 minutes ago
- New Straits Times
Bursa Malaysia ends marginally higher amid cautious regional sentiment
KUALA LUMPUR: Bursa Malaysia closed slightly higher today, with the key index climbing 0.18 per cent, supported by buying in utilities and telecommunications heavyweights, despite softer regional sentiment due to profit-taking and caution surrounding the United States-China trade deal. At 5pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 2.78 points to 1,526.62 from Wednesday's close of 1,523.84. The benchmark opened 3.87 points higher at 1,527.71 this morning, and subsequently moved between 1,523.22 to a high of 1,528.72 throughout the session. On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 500 to 379, while 530 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded and 17 suspended. Turnover fell to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.07 billion compared with yesterday's 3.27 billion units worth RM2.59 billion. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd equity research vice-president Thong Pak Leng said the FBM KLCI edged higher with buying in selective heavyweights such as utilities and telco stocks, while key regional indices finished mostly lower due to profit-taking following gains over the last few days. "In addition, market sentiment was dampened by US President Donald Trump's threat to impose new trade tariffs on major economies, while investors remained cautious, awaiting further details on the US-China trade deal," he told Bernama. Elaborating on the local market performance, Thong noted that the benchmark index remains in consolidation mode despite closing higher over the past two sessions, as it still needs to break above the 1,530 resistance level and sustain that level for a longer period. "As such we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,520-1,530 range towards the weekend," he added.


Free Malaysia Today
35 minutes ago
- Free Malaysia Today
Bursa ends marginally higher amid cautious regional sentiment
KUALA LUMPUR : Bursa Malaysia closed slightly higher today, with the key index climbing 0.18%, supported by buying in utilities and telecommunications heavyweights, despite softer regional sentiment due to profit-taking and caution surrounding the US-China trade deal. Rakuten Trade Sdn Bhd vice-president of equity research Thong Pak Leng said the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) edged higher with buying in selective heavyweights such as utilities and telco stocks, while key regional indices ended mostly lower due to profit-taking following gains over the last few days. 'In addition, market sentiment was dampened by US president Donald Trump's threat to impose new trade tariffs on major economies, while investors remained cautious, awaiting further details on the US-China trade deal,' he told Bernama. Elaborating on the local market performance, Thong noted that the benchmark index remains in consolidation mode despite closing higher over the past two sessions, as it still needs to break above the 1,530-resistance level and sustain that level for a longer period. 'As such we anticipate the FBM KLCI to trend within the 1,520-1,530 range towards the weekend,' he added. At 5pm, the FBM KLCI rose 2.78 points to 1,526.62 from yesterday's close of 1,523.84. The benchmark opened 3.87 points higher at 1,527.71 this morning, and subsequently moved between 1,523.22 to a high of 1,528.72 throughout the session. On the broader market, losers thumped gainers 500 to 379, while 530 counters were unchanged, 986 untraded and 17 suspended. Turnover fell to 2.73 billion units worth RM2.07 billion compared with yesterday's 3.27 billion units worth RM2.59 billion. Among the heavyweight gainers were Maybank, which rose 7 sen to RM9.77, Petronas Gas added 38 sen to RM18.08, YTL Power was 5 sen better at RM3.70, MISC increased 8 sen to RM7.78, and IHH Healthcare advanced 4 sen to RM6.90. As for the most active stocks, MyEG lost 0.5 sen to 96.5 sen, PDZ Holdings was flat at 3 sen, Jiankun inched up 0.5 sen to 3 sen, Tanco slid 2 sen to 95.5 sen, and YTL Corporation was 2 sen better at RM2.20. On the index board, the FBM Emas Index climbed 7.18 points to 11,444.92, the FBMT 100 Index increased 10.72 points to 11,214.27, and the FBM Emas Shariah Index advanced 4.84 points to 11,397.51. However, the FBM 70 Index slid 22.56 points to 16,502.66 and the FBM ACE Index shed 19.36 points to 4,524.69. Sector-wise, the energy index ticked up 2.36 points to 726.13 and the financial services index notched up 10.12 points to 17,789.28, while the industrial products and services index eased 0.12 of-a-point to 152.19 and the plantation index eased 20.08 points to 7,193.74. The Main Market volume slipped to 1.21 billion units valued at RM1.82 billion from 1.41 billion units valued at RM2.32 billion registered at yesterday's close. Warrants turnover narrowed to 1.31 billion units worth RM160 million from 1.61 billion units worth RM175.22 million previously. The ACE Market volume declined to 211.79 million units valued at RM81.62 million from 255.08 million units valued at RM93.16 million yesterday. Consumer products and services counters accounted for 180.95 million shares traded on the Main Market, industrial products and services (172 million), construction (99.67 million), technology (142.88 million), SPAC (nil), financial services (66.4 million), property (157.49 million), plantation (15.66 million), REITs (34.41 million), closed-end funds (92,400), energy (128.43 million), healthcare (58.59 million), telecommunications and media (47.68 million), transportation and logistics (55.01 million), utilities (53.33 million), and business trusts (17,100).