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World shares rally after President Donald Trump announces what appears to be a shaky Israeli-Iran ceasefire

World shares rally after President Donald Trump announces what appears to be a shaky Israeli-Iran ceasefire

Chicago Tribune8 hours ago

FRANKFURT, Germany — Stocks rallied and oil prices fell Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump announced what appears to be a shaky ceasefire in the Israel-Iran war.
The tentative truce proposed by Trump remained uncertain after Israel said Iran had launched missiles into its airspace less than three hours after the ceasefire went into effect. It vowed to retaliate.
Still, investors took heart after Trump said Israel and Iran had agreed to a 'complete and total ceasefire' soon after Iran launched limited missile attacks Monday on a U.S. military base in Qatar, retaliating for the American bombing of its nuclear sites over the weekend.
'The Middle East may still be smoldering, but as far as markets are concerned, the fire alarm has been shut off,' Stephen Innes of SPI Asset Management said in a commentary.
The future for the S&P 500 gained 0.8% while that for the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.7%. In morning trading Europe time, Germany's DAX leaped 1.8% to 23,693.13, while the CAC 40 in Paris added 1.2% to 7,625.20. Britain's FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 8,784.68.
Oil prices fell further, after tumbling on Monday as fears subsided of an Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, a vital waterway for shipping crude. Oil prices have now given up almost all their gains since Israel attacked Iran on June 13, wiping out a roughly $10 per barrel risk premium based on the outside chance of a blockade at the strait.
The price of oil initially jumped 6% after trading began Sunday night, a signal of rising worries as investors got their first chance to react to the U.S. bombings. But it quickly shed all those gains, with U.S. benchmark crude falling 7.2%. It dropped further early Tuesday, giving up 3% to $66.49 per barrel. It had briefly topped $78.
Brent crude, the international standard, shed 3% early Tuesday to $69.38. That was just a few cents above where it traded on June 12 ahead of the Israeli attack on Iran.
With the global oil market well supplied and the OPEC+ alliance of producing countries steadily increasing production, oil prices could be headed down, said Carsten Fritsch, commodities analyst at Commerzbank. 'The crucial question now is whether the ceasefire will hold and a lasting peace solution can be found,' he wrote in a research note. 'If so, a further fall in the oil price could be expected.'
At their next meeting July 6, ministers from eight OPEC+ countries are expected to add another 410,000 barrels per day of production.
In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 rose 1.1% to 38,790.56 and the Hang Seng in Hong Kong gained 2.1% to 24,177.07.
The Shanghai Composite index climbed 1.2% to 3,420.57.
In South Korea, the Kospi jumped 3% to 3,103.64, while Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 1% to 8,555.50.
Taiwan's Taiex rose 2.1% and India's Sensex was up 0.6%. In Bangkok, the SET surged 2.5%.
U.S. stocks rallied on Monday despite the United States' bunker-busting entry into its war with Israel.
The S&P 500 climbed 1% and the Dow industrials gained 0.9%. The Nasdaq composite index advanced 0.9%.
Back in the U.S., Treasury yields eased after a top Federal Reserve official said she would support cutting rates at the Fed's next meeting, as long as 'inflation pressures remain contained.'
Investors will be watching for Fed. Chair Jerome Powell's comments to the U.S. Congress later Tuesday, analysts said. when d
The yield on the 10-year Treasury held steady at 4.33% from 4.38% late Friday. The two-year Treasury yield, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, dropped to 3.83% from 3.90%.
The Federal Reserve has been hesitant to cut interest rates this year because it's waiting to see how much higher tariffs imposed by Trump will hurt the U.S. economy and raise inflation.
Inflation has remained relatively tame recently, but higher oil and gasoline prices would push it higher. That could keep the Fed on hold because cuts to rates can fan inflation while they also give the economy a boost.
The U.S. dollar fell to 145.13 Japanese yen from 146.15 yen late Monday. The euro rose to $1.1597 from $1.1578.

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‘Alligator Alcatraz': What you need to know about the Everglades detention camp
‘Alligator Alcatraz': What you need to know about the Everglades detention camp

Miami Herald

time28 minutes ago

  • Miami Herald

‘Alligator Alcatraz': What you need to know about the Everglades detention camp

Florida's decision to build a massive detention facility for undocumented immigrants in the middle of the Everglades is fast becoming one of the most controversial symbols of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. It pits environmental protection and Indigenous rights against political ambitions and border enforcement priorities. And with the facility expected to open soon, the fight over the swamp-bound detention center seems far from over. Dubbed 'Alligator Alcatraz' by its backers, the project reflects Governor Ron DeSantis and President Donald Trump's aggressive approach to immigration enforcement. Here's what we know so far: Q: What exactly is being built in the Everglades? Florida has begun construction on a 1,000-bed migrant detention center on an old airstrip in the Big Cypress National Preserve, a protected part of the Everglades. 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A: The migrant detention facility is among several facilities planned by the state that together will cost around $450 million annually to operate, according to federal estimates. This includes the cost of setting up and running the facility on the site of the Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport. While the state is responsible for the initial construction and setup, it can seek reimbursement for some of these costs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Q: Who owns that land? A: The site falls within Miami-Dade County, and the state has offered $20 million to purchase the land. But two recent appraisals pegged the value at nearly $195 million. Despite the lack of a finalized purchase, the state has already invoked emergency powers from a 2023 executive order to take control of the property and begin development. Q: What's the federal government's role in the project? 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Eve Samples, director of Friends of the Everglades, called the risks to water, waste, and ancillary development 'devastating.'Native American leaders, like Betty Osceola of the Miccosukee Tribe, say they were not consulted. Osceola, who lives just three miles from the site, said the gates to the airstrip were locked for the first time she can remember during a Sunday protest. 'The speed at which things are happening—and the secretiveness with which things are happening—is deeply concerning,' she rights advocates say the use of tents in a remote swamp during peak summer heat shows a callous disregard for the health and dignity of detainees. Mark Fleming of the National Immigrant Justice Center called it 'an independent, unaccountable detention system' that 'shocks the conscience.'Alex Howard, a former DHS spokesperson under the Biden administration, was even more blunt: 'You don't solve immigration by disappearing people into tents guarded by gators. You solve it with lawful processing, humane infrastructure, and actual policy—not by staging a $450 million stunt in the middle of hurricane season.' Q: What's the position of local government? A: Miami-Dade County owns the airfield land. County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava has raised objections over the state's aggressive tactics and environmental risks. In a letter to Florida's emergency management chief, she warned that 'the impacts to the Everglades ecosystem could be devastating' and said the state has not given the county enough time to evaluate the plans. Q: Has construction actually started? A: Yes. Trucks and contractors began arriving Sunday, and construction officially began Monday. Attorney General Uthmeier said the facility is scheduled to be operational by the first week of July. The setup includes heavy-duty tents, trailers, solar panels, and large generators. No brick-and-mortar construction is planned, according to state officials. 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Startup ForSight Wants Its Robots To Operate On Your Eyeballs
Startup ForSight Wants Its Robots To Operate On Your Eyeballs

Forbes

time28 minutes ago

  • Forbes

Startup ForSight Wants Its Robots To Operate On Your Eyeballs

ForSight Robotics founders (left to right) Daniel Glozman, Joseph Nathan and Moshe Shoham ForSight Robotics C ataract surgery is one of the world's most common medical procedures, with more than 4 million of them done each year in the United States alone, but there simply aren't enough doctors available to meet the demand for everyone who needs the surgery. Enter robotics. An Israeli startup is betting that robots can ultimately do the procedure better and cheaper than human doctors. ForSight Robotics on Tuesday said it had raised $125 million led by Eclipse Ventures to expand its robotic platform, called Oryom, which it says is the world's first for cataracts and other eye diseases. The funding represents the second-largest Series B investment in a surgical robotics startup, and brings ForSight's total investment to $195 million. The new money values the company at an estimated $500 million—a substantial increase since it last raised funds in 2022 at a $162 million valuation, according to VC database PitchBook. Additional investors include Fred Moll, the cofounder of Intuitive Surgical and pioneer of robotic surgery, who has joined the company's strategic advisory board. ForSight has been testing its robot on pig eyes, and plans to complete its first full robotic surgery on a human patient later this year. It's targeting the U.S. market and is in early conversations with the FDA. While ForSight's robots would be the first for cataracts, robotic surgery has become increasingly commonplace since $185 billion (market cap) Intuitive Surgical received FDA approval for its Da Vinci robots 25 years ago. 'At first people were intimidated by robotics' advancement,' Dr. Joseph Nathan, ForSight's cofounder, president and chief medical officer, told Forbes. 'Now they are seeing robotics as the things that will get them the best outcomes.' Cataract surgery, where a surgeon replaces a clouded optical lens with an artificial one, is a very quick procedure, typically taking less than 15 minutes to perform. It's a painstaking task because of the dexterity required to work in such a tiny space. But the surgery's repetitive nature and the fact that it's bloodless makes it easier for robots to handle. 'What we are trying to solve through robotics is a new level of eye care,' Nathan said. 'The procedure itself is the same steps over and over because of the similar anatomy of the eye regardless of age or race.' More than 1 billion people globally suffer from some form of preventable vision impairment or avoidable blindness, according to the World Health Organization. Yet a worldwide shortage of eye doctors—with only 32 ophthalmologists and 14 cataract surgeons per million people—means a vast number of them will never get treatment. That gap is only going to get worse, as the number of ophthalmologists is falling, while demand for eye surgeries to avoid blindness is surging, Nathan said. ForSight's founders first met at the Technion, Israel's institute of technology. Moshe Shoham, a professor emeritus and former head of the Technion's robotics laboratory, had previously cofounded several other robotics companies, including Mazor, which focused on spine surgery and was acquired by Medtronic in 2018 for $1.6 billion. Nathan, a surgeon, had previously led efforts to commercialize healthcare technology coming out of the school. He approached Shoham after wondering why robots for eye surgery didn't already exist despite similar technology being used in other surgeries for the past few decades. They subsequently teamed up with Daniel Glozman, an early student of Shoham's and former head of R&D at Medtronic Ventor Technologies, to launch the company in 2020. 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'As far as real surgical technique [that could be helped by robotics], cataract surgery is at the top of the list,' he said. ForSight spent the past four years developing its robotic system that pairs microsurgical robots with computer vision and machine learning algorithms. To test out its bots, ForSight brought in top cataract surgeons to perform the procedure on pig eyes mounted on the topography of a human face. The use of porcine eyes is a common way for surgeons to train as they are, perhaps surprisingly, extremely similar to human eyes. All told, the company (which is now on the third generation of its robot) has done some 300 test procedures on pigs' eyes, Nathan said. By bringing in cataract surgeons, the company is able to incorporate their feedback as it refines the system's technology and design. There is always a doctor in the loop doing the surgery. Nathan said that the company will begin gathering clinical data later this year with the hopes of receiving regulatory approval in the U.S. and being able to commercialize here in 'the next few years.' Eclipse's Winterroth said that the company has enough funding now to get through the FDA approval process. Longer term, Nathan sees opportunity both in populous countries like India, where the gap between the number of people who need cataract surgery and the surgeons available is especially large, and for the robot to do other ophthalmologic surgeries, such as retina repairs, treatments for glaucoma and even more rare and complex surgeries that few doctors are capable of performing. 'Robotics will have to take over,' he said. 'There is no human way to close the gap as we see it.' 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US first-quarter foreign direct investment falls sharply amid tariff uncertainty
US first-quarter foreign direct investment falls sharply amid tariff uncertainty

Yahoo

time29 minutes ago

  • Yahoo

US first-quarter foreign direct investment falls sharply amid tariff uncertainty

By David Lawder WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Foreign direct investment into the U.S. fell sharply in the first quarter to $52.8 billion from a downwardly revised $79.9 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday, a drop that coincided with high business uncertainty over President Donald Trump's tariff plans. The fall could prove temporary, as billions of dollars worth of foreign firms' announced U.S. manufacturing projects get underway and Nippon Steel's nearly $15 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel adds to current and future quarters' data. The lower first-quarter FDI inflows contributed to a widening of the U.S. current account deficit to a record high of $450.2 billion as businesses front-loaded imports ahead of Trump's steep tariffs. The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis also said current account data for the fourth quarter was revised to show the gap at $312.0 billion instead of $303.9 billion as previously reported. The current account data measures the net flow of goods, services and investments into and out of the country. A large and persistent U.S. trade deficit has traditionally been partly offset by investment inflows into U.S. financial assets and foreign direct investment, which includes plant and equipment, corporate mergers and acquisitions. The first-quarter FDI inflows were the lowest in dollar terms since the $42.4 billion recorded in the fourth quarter of 2022, a period coinciding with high post-pandemic inflation. Except for that drop, quarterly FDI since the easing of the COVID-19 pandemic had been recorded above $61 billion, with a peak of $135 billion in the third quarter of 2021, according to Commerce Department data. Economists have warned that extreme uncertainty over Trump's tariffs could paralyze investment decisions by companies and slow economic growth. Trump has argued that his tariffs are prompting an investment rush by companies seeking to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. to avoid tariffs. Paul Ashworth, chief North American economist at Capital Economics, said it was possible that uncertainty could be impacting some investment decisions but cautioned that quarterly FDI is inherently volatile, driven by specific transactions such as mergers, acquisitions and big projects. "It's probably noise, rather than signaling something more dramatic or serious about FDI coming into the U.S.," Ashworth said of the first-quarter data. He said he expected FDI to increase in future quarters as U.S. manufacturing investment projects announced by Japanese and other foreign automakers get started. South Korea's Hyundai Motor and Hyundai Steel in April announced $21 billion worth of new U.S. manufacturing investments alongside Trump in the White House. Nippon Steel's hard-fought $14.9 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel closed last week and will show up in second-quarter inflows. "If anything, I'd expect FDI to be going up," Ashworth added.

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