Forex News

Japan finance minister Katayama: sharp shift in asset management environment could prompt review of GPIF portfolio Japan finmin Katayama: any asset management portfolio change to follow rules set for GPIF ? JAPAN FINMIN KATAYAMA: NO COMMENT ON WHETHER GPIF ASSET ALLOCATION CHANGE COULD LEAD TO DECREASE IN GPIF'S INVESTMENT IN FOREIGN ASSETS

The Westpac–Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index rose 4.1% to 83.9 in July from 80.6 in June. Despite the gain, sentiment remains deeply pessimistic. At 83.9, the latest Index read is still in the bottom 10% of results over the 50-year history of the survey. Some of the July improvement looks to be relief that ‘worst case’ scenarios – around energy ...

The US 10yr yield breached above 4.6% on Monday, driven there by yet another nudge higher in real yields. But in addition, break-even inflation rates too have been on a renewed rising trend in the past week. The latter coincides with the re-elevation of tensions between the US and Iran, manifesting in a concerning kinetic element. We're not quite in a state ...

Getty Seems Norwegian soccer star Erling Haaland is starting to feel more cowboy than Viking ... after spending weeks in the United States for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, he decided to bring home some cowboy keepsakes from Texas ... and they weren't cheap. A manager for Wild Bill's Western Store in Dallas tells TMZ ... Haaland and four other Norwegian soccer ...

Canadians are adjusting how they live as financial commitments are catching up even before their paycheque arrives in their bank account, the MNP Consumer Debt Index shows on Monday. Sustained cost pressures mean that for many Canadians, a substantial chunk of their income is already spoken for before they receive their paycheque, polling conducted by Ipsos ...

International travel covers the number and characteristics of overseas visitors and New Zealand resident travellers (short-term movements) entering or leaving New Zealand. tables Overseas visitor arrivals were 203,300 in May 2026, an increase of 12,700 from May 2025. The biggest changes were in arrivals from: • China (up 4,400) • Australia (up 3,300) • ...

Volatility has perked up for the Japanese yen over the past few weeks, and it has cut both ways. A market-led selloff heading into the 2 July non-farm payrolls (NFP) report saw USD/JPY fall by as much as 200 pips before recouping those losses over the following four days. On Friday, USD/JPY fell more than 100 pips on reports that Japan's largest pension ...

RBNZ’s Conway: Middle East developments last week indicate upside risks to September quarter forecast RBNZ's Conway: monetary policy can stop initial price impacts from turning into ongoing inflation pressure Rbnz's Conway: additional easing of monetary stimulus probably needed RBNZ's Conway: Central bank will act if inflation from Middle East conflict proves persistent

TRUMP ON IRAN: KNOCKING OUT IRAN'S OFFENSIVE CAPABILITY; BELIEVES A DEAL IS POSSIBLE

The latest NZIER Quarterly Survey of Business Opinion (QSBO) showed a recovery in business confidence in the June quarter, with a net 12 percent of firms expecting an improvement in general economic conditions over the coming months, on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was a pick-up from the net 1 percent expecting a better general economic outlook in the previous quarterly survey, which was undertaken shortly after the onset of the US-Israel-Iran war that boosted fuel prices. Meanwhile, demand in firms’ own business was broadly flat, with only a net 1 percent of firms reporting increased activity in the June quarter on a seasonally adjusted basis. This NZIER QSBO was undertaken between 10 June and 7 July. This coincided with a period when global fuel prices began to fall as the US and Iran reached a 60-day Memorandum of Understanding guaranteeing ship passage through the Strait of Hormuz. This recent easing of the fuel crisis appeared to have supported an improvement in confidence in the June quarter. However, geopolitical conditions in the Middle East remain highly volatile and uncertain, with tensions between the US and Iran re-escalating and fuel prices resurging in more recent weeks. This environment of ongoing uncertainty continues to drive caution amongst firms when it comes to hiring and investment. A net 10 percent of firms reported that they had reduced staff numbers in the June quarter, and a net 1 percent plan to reduce staff counts in the next quarter. A net 3 percent of firms plan to cut Trump on Iran: seeks compensation for shielding nations in Strait of Hormuz

Monetary policymakers are sometimes accused of being too quick to tighten monetary policy out of concern that a strong labor market or rapid economic growth will cause higher inflation. An often-cited exception occurred in 1996 when Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan resisted calls to raise the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) policy rate despite ...

The U.S. central bank may need to raise interest rates "in the near term" if coming data show inflation continuing well above the 2% target, Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Monday, in remarks that characterized monetary policy as being at a "crossroads." Waller told the New York Association for Business Economics that he'll be leaning ...

At 4:45 p.m. ET today, U.S. Central Command began launching the third consecutive night of strikes against Iran, at the Commander in Chief's direction. These strikes will continue imposing a heavy cost on Iranian forces and degrade their ability to attack innocent civilians and…

Our outlook remains broadly unchanged from our June forecast, reflecting a series of offsetting developments since our last update. Financial markets have remained volatile, oil prices have declined, and the Canadian dollar has weakened. At the same time, incoming Canadian data have largely reinforced the dynamics outlined in our June note, suggesting that ...

*TRUMP: WILL HIT IRAN HARD TONIGHT AND TOMORROW $CL Trump on Iran: We had a deal yesterday, they break deals. Iranians are extremely unreliable.

In the absence of forward guidance from the Federal Reserve, the dollar is holding onto gains made over the last eight weeks. These gains were largely driven by the June FOMC meeting when the central bank gave the impression that it was prepared to tighten rates to restore policy credibility. ING’s house call, however, is that the Fed will ultimately look ...

Trump will support Russia sanctions bill - CNN citing official

EXPLOSIONS REPORTED IN EASTERN BANDAR ABBAS - IRNA

A surge in U.S. inflation to a three-year high has begun to recede, but life isn't going to get more affordable for Americans anytime soon. The cost of living is all but certain to decline in June for the first time since the pandemic six years ago - entirely due to a sharp drop in gasoline prices. The cost of a regular gallon of gas tumbled 15% from ...

?*U.S. FORCES TO RESUME IRAN BLOCKADE ON JULY 14 AT 4PM ET

Randy Kroszner, University of Chicago Booth School professor of economics and former Federal Reserve Governor, joins Scarlet Fu and Tom Keene on "Bloomberg Money."

The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government (MTS) is prepared by the Bureau of the Fiscal Service, Department of the Treasury and, after approval by the Fiscal Assistant Secretary of the Treasury, is normally released on the 8th workday of the month following the reporting month. The publication is based on data ...

Oil prices raced upward on Monday as President Trump said the US would reimpose its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz and begin charging a 20% fee on any cargo shipped through the vital waterway, further complicating an already volatile situation in the Middle East. Futures on Brent crude (BZ=F), the international benchmark, jumped roughly 4.7% to trade at ...

Fed's Waller: Want markets to have as much information as possible Fed's Waller: Surprising people is not a good idea. Fed's Waller: Will Treat Another Higher Reading On Inflation As A ‘Signal, Not Noise’ - It Will Be A Useful Signal - If Inflation Comes Down In Next Reading, Will Need A Couple More That Way To See That As 'Signal'

A solid U.S. dollar rally in 2026, driven ​by a hawkish Federal Reserve, has found support as global pension funds reverse hedges put on following last year’s "Liberation Day" market unrest. Rising inflation readings and the appointment of Kevin Warsh as Fed chair have driven up U.S. real, or inflation-adjusted, interest rates in recent months. Meanwhile, ...

Thank you, Yelena, and thank you for the opportunity to speak to you today. My subject is the outlook for the U.S. economy and the implications for monetary policy. Spending by households and businesses has been resilient, despite higher goods costs generated by tariffs and the surge in energy prices from the Middle East conflict. The labor market has also been stable, with employment close to the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) maximum-employment goal. So I feel the real side of the economy is in good shape. But I believe inflation and monetary policy are at a crossroads. Despite higher tariffs in 2025, core inflation held steady for most of the year. But it then began to rise in January. After the Middle East conflict disrupted production and transportation of petroleum and other commodities, this increase accelerated. Conventional wisdom among central bankers is to look through one-time price increases, such as those associated with higher tariffs and a jump in oil prices. But, at this point, I am concerned about the elevated pace of core inflation this year, which has steadily moved up—as measured by the 12-month personal consumption expenditures (PCE) rate—from 3 percent in December 2025 to 3.4 percent in May. Core inflation excludes the direct effects of consumer energy prices, and we are past the point where we can attribute large price increases to earlier tariff hikes. So, the question is, will core inflation continue on its upward trajectory, or has it reached a turning point where it will begin to decline back toward our 2 percent target? The direction it takes has very different implications for the path of monetary policy. Because core inflation is a good guide to future inflation, I am concerned that, if this upward trend continues, it will be hard to push inflation back toward the Committee's 2 percent goal with monetary policy at its current setting. As I said in a May 22 speech, I am cognizant of the mistake we made in 2021 by not responding sooner to the high inflation we observed, and I am determined to avoid repeating it.2 But the desire to avoid past mistakes is often the author of new ones. I argued in remarks on July 6 that one of the most important jobs of a policymaker is to clearly assess current economic conditions and not just rely on past experience to guide judgments of where policy should be headed.3 As I will explain, there are some crucial differences now compared with 2021, and there is still a credible case for inflation to begin to fall back to our 2 percent goal with policy at its current setting. But I am concerned about the equally plausible case that data in the coming weeks will show that inflation will remain at its elevated level or even trend higher, requiring tighter monetary policy in the near term. I am committed to returning inflation to the FOMC's 2 percent g FED'S WALLER SAYS HE IS COMMITTED TO RETURNING INFLATION TO 2% TARGET; ALSO TO AVOID OVER-TIGHTENING POLICY AND RISKING RECESSION || CONCERNED ABOUT EQUALLY PLAUSIBLE CASE THAT TIGHTER POLICY WILL BE NEEDED FED'S WALLER SAYS HE EXPECTS A DECELERATION IN HEADLINE INFLATION STARTING WITH THIS WEEK'S INFLATION DATA; BUT WILL BE FOCUSED ON CORE READING || REAL SIDE OF ECONOMY IN GOOD SHAPE WALLER SAYS HE IS DETERMINED TO AVOID REPEATING FED'S MISTAKE IN 2021; BUT LABOR MARKET NOT AS TIGHT NOW, AND INFLATION EXPECTATIONS ANCHORED || HOUSEHOLD, BUSINESS SPENDING RESILIENT DESPITE HIGHER GOODS COSTS FROM TARIFFS, ENERGY PRICE SURGE FROM MIDDLE EAST CONFLICT Waller: We’re past the point where we can attribute past increases to tariffs. “No matter how you cut it, or what measure you want to use, inflation is up this year” “Sometimes a big change in only one component of core prices can move the total significantly without reflecting…

The U.S. currency is maintaining its position near the strongest point of 2026, bolstered by a mix of robust domestic economic indicators, mounting inflation anxieties, and fresh military tensions in the Middle East. Market participants are wagering that the Federal Reserve will maintain elevated borrowing costs — or potentially implement additional ...

Gold prices have rebounded from June's sharp correction, but RBC Capital Markets believes investors should be prepared for further volatility before the precious metal resumes its longer-term advance. Gold (XAU/USD) traded around $4,165 after recovering more than 3% in July, following an almost 12% decline in June that briefly pushed prices below $4,000. ...

President Trump said Monday that the U.S. will be "the guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz and suggested that other countries will pay the U.S. for securing it. "The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as 'THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,' but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for ...

The Hormuz Strait is OPEN, and will remain OPEN, with or without Iran. We are reinstating the THE IRANIAN BLOCKADE, so named because it is only stopping Iran’s ships or customers from entering or leaving. All other countries will have fair and open use of the Strait. The U.S.A. will be, from this point forward, known as “THE GUARDIAN OF THE HORMUZ STRAIT,” but as such, and as a matter of FAIRNESS, will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20% on all cargo shipped, for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the World. The process and formation will begin immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP