Latest news with #Commerzbank
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Gold Eases After Trump Downplays Clash With Fed Chair Powell
(Bloomberg) -- Gold extended a decline on Friday as the dollar rose after Donald Trump downplayed his clash with Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, easing concerns around the central bank's independence. Trump Awards $1.26 Billion Contract to Build Biggest Immigrant Detention Center in US The High Costs of Trump's 'Big Beautiful' New Car Loan Deduction Can This Bridge Ease the Troubled US-Canadian Relationship? Salt Lake City Turns Winter Olympic Bid Into Statewide Bond Boom Trump maintained on Thursday that there was 'no tension' with the Fed chief and indicated that problems with renovations of the Fed headquarters probably weren't reason enough to fire the central bank head. A stronger greenback makes gold more expensive for many buyers. Gold is up more than 27% this year, as uncertainty around Trump's aggressive attempts to reshape global trade and conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East sparked a flight into havens. Still, the precious metal has been trading within a tight range over the past few months after spiking to an all-time high above $3,500 an ounce in April, with investors growing more confident about risk assets in recent weeks following progress in US trade negotiations. 'Gold is looking for direction,' Commerzbank analysts including Barbara Lambrecht said in a note. 'The trends in investment demand suggest that the gold price has peaked for the time being, especially as no interest rate cut is expected in the US' at the Fed's July meeting next week. She noted that the pace of net inflows of gold exchange-traded funds — a key driver in bullion's price gains this year — slowed in the second quarter. Total gold ETFs holdings rose 2.9% during the April-June period, compared with a 6.2% increase in the first quarter, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Spot gold was down 0.9% to $3,337.12 an ounce at 10:36 a.m. in New York, with prices 0.4% lower for the week. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index added 0.3%. Silver, platinum and palladium all fell. --With assistance from Jack Ryan and Laura Avetisyan. Burning Man Is Burning Through Cash Confessions of a Laptop Farmer: How an American Helped North Korea's Wild Remote Worker Scheme It's Not Just Tokyo and Kyoto: Tourists Descend on Rural Japan Elon Musk's Empire Is Creaking Under the Strain of Elon Musk A Rebel Army Is Building a Rare-Earth Empire on China's Border ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
Wall Street Journal
4 hours ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Gold Futures Fall as Risk-On Sentiment Dulls Safe-Haven Appeal
1144 GMT – Gold futures slip as risk-on market sentiment prevails and the dollar strengthens. Futures are down 0.9% at $3,342.40 a troy ounce. The precious metal is under pressure on fading safe-haven demand after the U.S.-Japan trade deal, Nikos Tzabouras says in a note. The deal is expected to reduce the hit from President Trump's tariff policies on both the global and U.S. economies, Tzabouras writes. This optimism, coupled with strong U.S. jobs data, has lowered hopes for imminent Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts. While this is positive for the dollar, it has weighed on noninterest bearing bullion, Tzabouras says. That said, gold's safe-haven appeal could quickly return on trade tensions ahead of the Aug. 1 tariff-reimplementation deadline and central bank demand remains supportive, he adds. ( 1147 GMT – Base metal prices are mixed, with LME three-month copper down 0.3% at $9,827 a metric ton and LME three-month aluminum up 0.15% at $2,650 a ton. That said, copper and aluminum are up 1.2% and 3.3% on month. Sentiment on the metals market is good with the London Metal Exchange index approaching highs last seen in March, Commerzbank analysts say in a note. Investors are likely to focus their attention more on upcoming sentiment indicators from China, rather than economic indicators from the U.S. or the eurozone, Commerzbank says. If Chinese indicators brighten, expectations for industrial-metals demand will increase and the metals index could push closer to previous highs, analysts say. (
Zawya
a day ago
- Business
- Zawya
Euro zone bond yields rise on trade deal expectations, fading ECB rate cut bets
Euro zone bond yields rose Thursday as risk sentiment improved on expectations the European Union will strike a trade deal with the United States and the market awaited the European Central Bank's policy announcement later in the day. Two EU diplomats said late on Wednesday that the 27-member bloc was heading towards an agreement that would result in broad 15% tariffs on its exports to the U.S., avoiding a harsher levy of 30% scheduled to be implemented from August 1. The U.S. later called the talk of a trade deal with Europe "speculation", but markets still believed a deal was on the horizon before next week's deadline. "Bunds dropped like a hot potato ... with risk sentiment turning for the better on 15% tariff headlines for EU goods," Commerzbank rates strategist Hauke Siemssen said in a note. Germany's 10-year yield, the benchmark for the euro zone, rose as high as 2.684%. It was last up 7 basis points (bps) to 2.667%, on track for its biggest one-day rise since May 12. Bond yields move inversely with prices. Germany's two-year yield, more sensitive to changes in interest rate expectations, rose 6 bps to 1.854%. Later on Thursday, the ECB is expected to hold the deposit rate steady following 200 bps of rate cuts since the middle of last year, as the central bank waits for the fog over trade relations with the U.S. to clear. But markets trimmed expectations for future reductions in borrowing costs after the reports of a possible EU-U.S. trade agreement. "At the margin, it (a possible trade deal) reduces the odds for rate cuts," said Jussi Hiljanen, chief rates strategist at SEB, who expects the ECB to remain on hold today. "Today should be a non-event. I would be surprised to see (ECB President Christine) Lagarde say something that makes the market price in more than one rate cut." Futures now imply about a 40% chance that ECB will lower borrowing costs in September from a near 50% chance on Wednesday. Markets are pricing just 22 bps of easing by the year's end, implying an 88% chance of a quarter-point move. Business activity in the euro zone accelerated faster than expected this month, supported by a solid improvement in the services industry and signs of a recovery in the manufacturing sector, a survey showed on Thursday. HCOB's preliminary composite euro zone Purchasing Managers' Index, compiled by S&P Global, rose to an 11-month high of 51.0, above expectations for 50.8 in a Reuters poll of economists. Italy's 10-year bond yield, the benchmark for the euro zone periphery, rose 6.5 bps to 3.521%. (Reporting by Samuel Indyk; Editing by Barbara Lewis and Joe Bavier)
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- Business
- Free Malaysia Today
UniCredit boosts outlook after ending bid for Banco BPM
UniCredit said its net profit stood at €2.9 billion, up 8%. (EPA Images pic) ROME : Italy's UniCredit posted a sharp rise in quarterly profit today despite lower revenues, a day after it withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM due to government interference. Late yesterday, UniCredit said it was withdrawing its bid for Italy's third-largest bank Banco BPM, blaming restrictions on the deal imposed by the Italian government while calling it a 'missed opportunity' for shareholders. The country's second-largest bank posted net profit of €3.3 billion (US$3.9 billion) versus €2.68 billion in last year's second quarter (Q2), a nearly 25% rise. Excluding one-off items, UniCredit said its net profit stood at €2.9 billion, up 8%, above analysts' average estimates of €2.5 billion. Shares of UniCredit rose by 2.5% to €59.54 just after the opening of the Milan stock exchange, while those of Banco BPM fell 4.27% to €9.88. Revenues fell, however, by 3.3% to 6.13 billion from €6.3 billion in the quarter, hit by hedging costs associated with UniCredit's Commerzbank stake. Looking ahead, UniCredit said it was boosting its net income outlook for 2025 to €10.5 billion, above its earlier expectation of €9.3 billion. 'The results demonstrated how 'a transitional year' turned into the bank's 'best year ever',' UniCredit said in a statement. UniCredit said one-off items impacted its Q2, including the equity consolidation of its 9.9% Commerzbank stake and acquisition of life insurance joint ventures. 'As we look ahead to 2026 and beyond, we anticipate boosting revenue and net profit through the internalisation of life insurance and the equity consolidation of Alpha Bank10 and Commerzbank,' it said. UniCredit also said it would begin a €3.6 billion share buy-back 'as soon as practicable'. The surprise announcement of UniCredit's withdrawal brought to an end a protracted tug-of-war since November, pitting UniCredit against BPM and the Italian government, which opposed the potential deal originally valued at €10.1 billion (US$11.9 billion). While Banco BPM considered the move hostile and the offer insufficient, Italy's government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni similarly opposed it, as it would have thwarted its plans to create a third banking group in Italy, comprising Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS). The point of contention for UniCredit was the government's so-called 'golden power' provision, which it exercised in April and which cited national security concerns due to UniCredit's operations in Russia. The provision allows the government to set certain restrictive conditions on takeovers in strategic sectors, such as banking. Those included an obligation for UniCredit to maintain the level of loans granted in Italy for a certain period of time, and to cease all activity in Russia. Earlier in July, the European Commission warned Italy that the provision was in potential violation of EU law, and yesterday, UniCredit cited the 'continued uncertainty' caused by the provision as the reason for it dropping its bid.
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
UniCredit boosts outlook despite Banco BPM pullout
Agencies Italy's banking giant UniCredit posted a sharp rise in quarterly profit on Wednesday despite lower revenues, a day after it withdrew its offer for smaller rival Banco BPM due to government restrictions. Late Tuesday, UniCredit said it was dropping its bid for Italy's third-largest bank Banco BPM, blaming restrictions on the deal imposed by the Italian government while calling it a 'missed opportunity' for shareholders. Resolution of the impasse did not have 'a clear deadline on it,' CEO Andrea Orcel told analysts during a conference call following results. 'That for us had become a drag. That is the main reason we withdrew,' he said. The country's second-largest bank posted second quarter net profit of 3.3 billion euros ($3.9 billion) versus 2.7 billion euros a year earlier, a nearly 25% rise. Excluding one-off items, UniCredit said its net profit stood at 2.9 billion euros, up 8%, above analysts' average estimates of 2.5 billion euros. Revenues fell, however, by 3.3% to 6.1 billion euros from 6.3 billion euros in the quarter, hit by hedging costs associated with its 9.9% stake in Commerzbank, where UniCredit is now the largest shareholder. By midmorning, UniCredit shares rose as high as 60.77 euros, up 4.6% on the Milan stock exchange, while those of Banco BPM fell as much as 4.6% to 9.82 euros. Looking ahead, UniCredit said it was boosting its net income outlook for 2025 to 10.5 billion euros, above its earlier expectation of 9.3 billion euros. It also expects 2025 net revenue above 23.5 billion results demonstrated how 'a transitional year' turned into the bank's 'best year ever,' UniCredit said in a statement. UniCredit said one-off items impacted its second quarter, including the equity consolidation of its Commerzbank stake and the acquisition of life insurance joint ventures. For 2026 and beyond, revenue and profit would be boosted through 'the internalisation of life insurance and the equity consolidation of Alpha Bank and Commerzbank,' it said. UniCredit also said it would soon begin a 3.6-billion-euro share buyback program. The surprise announcement of UniCredit's withdrawal brought to an end a protracted tug of war since November, pitting UniCredit against Banco BPM and the Italian government, which opposed the potential deal originally valued at 10.1 billion euros. While Banco BPM considered the move hostile and the offer insufficient, Italy's government under Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni similarly opposed it, as it would have thwarted its plans to create a third large banking group in Italy, comprising Banco BPM and Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS). The point of contention for UniCredit was the government's so-called 'golden power' provision, which it exercised in April and which cited national security concerns due to UniCredit's operations in Russia. The provision allows the government to set certain restrictive conditions on takeovers in strategic sectors, such as banking. Those included an obligation for UniCredit to maintain the level of loans granted in Italy for a certain period of time, and to cease all activity in Russia. UniCredit said Wednesday it was further reducing its exposure in Russia and was already well ahead of its targets and those of the European Central Bank (ECB). Earlier in July, the European Commission warned Italy that the provision was in potential violation of EU law. On Tuesday, Italy's financial market regulator, Consob, suspended the bid for 30 days, citing a 'situation of uncertainty' around the offer, potentially giving the parties more time to resolve the problems. But even with an extended deadline, the uncertainty remained, Orcel said.
