2025-06-30 07:01

SEJONG, South Korea, June 30 (Reuters) - South Korea will seek an extension to the 90-day pause in U.S. tariffs that is set to expire next week, as negotiations are likely to continue past the deadline set between Seoul and Washington, a senior South Korean trade official said on Monday. South Korea's new administration held its first senior-level trade talks with the U.S. last week, and a third round of working-level technical discussions since the two countries agreed in late April to craft a trade package reducing U.S. tariffs before the U.S. 90-day pause ends on July 9. Sign up here. "It seems some countries will reach a deal by July 8, some might be granted an extension to continue negotiations, while others will decide if they want to continue negotiating under tariffs or not," the official told a briefing. "We will do our best to be granted by July 8 an extension to continue negotiations," the official said, adding that the U.S. is expected to make a decision on a further extension on the day. During the talks last week, the U.S. mainly raised issues related to South Korea's non-tariff barriers, as South Korea already imposes nearly zero tariffs on U.S. imports under a free trade agreement, the official said. Other issues of foreign exchange rates and defence costs are being discussed via separate channels, the official said. Some 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrence to North Korea and U.S. President Donald Trump has often complained about the cost-sharing arrangement. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/south-korea-says-seeking-extension-us-90-day-tariff-pause-2025-06-30/

2025-06-30 06:59

MUMBAI, June 30 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee is likely to be well supported at open on Monday, aided by the strength in Asian currencies following positive trade-related developments between the U.S. and China. The one-month non-deliverable forward suggests the rupee , which rallied 1.3% last week to 85.4750 per U.S. dollar, will open slightly firmer. Last week's move marked the rupee's best weekly performance in over two years, fuelled by the plunge in oil prices and continued weakness in the dollar. Sign up here. The rupee's bias remains skewed to upside after last week's clean break below 85.80, a currency trader at a Mumbai-based bank said. There is likely to be "good supply on upticks" on the dollar/rupee pair, he said, pegging support at 85.30 and then at 85. The offshore Chinese yuan inched up at 7.16 to the dollar and it is not too far away from its year-to-date high. The South Korean won added 0.5%, the top performer among major Asian currencies. Optimism over the U.S. trade deals and mounting expectations of the Federal Reserve's rate cuts boosted Asian currencies. The White House said on Thursday it had signed an agreement with China to accelerate rare earth approvals. Hours later, Beijing said both sides had agreed on the terms of the deal reached in London earlier this month, developments investors took to signal progress. Meanwhile, U.S. economic data on Friday added to the case for the Fed rate cuts this year, particularly against the backdrop of progress on the trade front. U.S. real consumer spending was softer than expected, leading our economists to revise down their real GDP growth tracking to 2.0% from 2.1%, Morgan Stanley said in a note. Following the data, traders increased bets that the Fed will cut short-term borrowing costs by a total of 75 basis points in 2025, with the first move likely in September. KEY INDICATORS: ** One-month non-deliverable rupee forward at 85.55; onshore one-month forward premium at 10.5 paise ** Dollar index down at 97.18 ** Brent crude futures down 0.3% at $67.6 per barrel ** Ten-year U.S. note yield at 4.28% ** As per NSDL data, foreign investors bought a net $1,243.5 million worth of Indian shares on June 26 ** NSDL data shows foreign investors bought a net $71.7 million worth of Indian bonds on June 26 https://www.reuters.com/world/china/rupee-ride-asia-fx-rally-us-china-trade-cheer-2025-06-30/

2025-06-30 06:47

COPENHAGEN, June 30 (Reuters) - Equinor (EQNR.OL) , opens new tab has made an oil discovery on its Johan Castberg oilfield in the Arctic Barents Sea, the company and the Norwegian Offshore Directorate said on Monday. According to preliminary estimates, the size of the discovery is between 9 and 15 million barrels of oil, the Norwegian company said in a statement. Sign up here. "Only a short time after Johan Castberg came on stream and is producing at full capacity, we have made a new discovery that can provide additional reserves for the field," Equinor's head of Exploration and Production North, Grete Birgitte Haaland, said. The partners in the Johan Castberg licence are operator Equinor with a 46.3% stake, while Vaar Energi (VAR.OL) , opens new tab holds 30% and Petoro owns the remaining 23.7%. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/equinor-makes-oil-discovery-arctic-barents-sea-2025-06-30/

2025-06-30 06:28

UK economic growth confirmed at +0.7% in Q1 Output showing signs of slowing in more recent data Spending by households revised up Current account deficit bigger than expected LONDON, June 30 (Reuters) - Britain's economy grew at its fastest pace in a year in the first three months of 2025 as homebuyers rushed to beat a deadline on property purchases and manufacturers sped up output ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump's higher import tariffs. In a bounce that is not expected to be maintained in the rest of 2025, output grew by 0.7%, confirming a preliminary estimate and the fastest quarterly pace since the first three months of 2024, the Office for National Statistics said. Sign up here. Growth in March alone was revised up to 0.4% from a previous reading of 0.2%, the ONS said. The jump in economic output in early 2025 contrasted with growth of just 0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2024 and data has already shown that gross domestic product fell by 0.3% in April from March although the drop was exacerbated by one-off factors. The Bank of England has said it expects economic growth of about 0.25% in the second quarter of this year. Finance minister Rachel Reeves is hoping for a pickup to reduce the pressure on her to raise taxes again later this year to remain on course to meet her budget targets. Thomas Pugh, chief economist at audit firm RSM UK, said weak consumer spending and hiring figures in recent weeks were likely to be a one-off reaction to a tax increase on employers and Trump's tariffs, many of which have been suspended. "Now that uncertainty has started to recede, consumer confidence is rebounding, and business surveys point to the worst of the labour market pain being behind us," Pugh said. A survey published earlier on Monday showed confidence levels among British employers hit a fresh nine-year high as they became more optimistic about the outlook for the economy. The BoE is expected to cut interest rates twice more over the remainder of 2025 which is likely to support household spending. However, a renewed rise in energy prices in the event of further conflict in the Middle East could add to the strains on the already slow-growing economy. Monday's data from the ONS showed household expenditure grew by 0.4% in the January-to-March period, revised up from an initial estimate of an increase of 0.2%, driven by housing and household goods and services as well as transport. Britain's property market saw a sharp increase in activity in the run-up to the March 31 expiry of a tax break for some homebuyers. Households dipped into their reserves to help fund their spending with the saving ratio falling for the first time in two years although at 10.9% it remained strong. Manufacturing grew by 1.1% in the first quarter - ahead of the increase in U.S. import tariffs in April - compared with the last three months of 2024. The ONS also said Britain's current account deficit grew to a bigger-than-expected 23.46 billion pounds in the January to March period from just over 21 billion pounds in the last three months of 2024. ($1 = 0.7285 pounds) https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/uk-economy-grew-by-07-first-quarter-statistics-office-says-2025-06-30/

2025-06-30 06:21

US Treasury chief cites progress in priority negotiations Canada rescinds digital services tax to advance stalled US trade talks Asian stocks strengthen with Wall Street futures pointing higher June 30 (Reuters) - Gold reversed course and edged higher on Monday, supported by a weaker dollar, after hitting a more than one-month low earlier as easing U.S.-China trade tensions dampened safe-haven demand and bolstered risk appetite. Spot gold rose 0.5% to $3,290 per ounce, as of 0613 GMT, after hitting its lowest since May 29 earlier in the session. Sign up here. U.S. gold futures were up 0.4% at $3,301. "There is less of a 'doom and gloom' outlook surrounding both tariff talks and events in the Middle East, which is relegating gold to play second fiddle to risk assets," KCM Trade Chief Market Analyst Tim Waterer said. Asian shares firmed, with Wall Street futures advancing, while the U.S. dollar index (.DXY) , opens new tab fell 0.3%. A weaker dollar makes greenback-priced bullion less expensive. The U.S. and China have resolved issues surrounding shipments of rare earth minerals and magnets to the U.S., Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Friday, adding that the Trump administration's various trade deals with other countries could be done by the September 1 Labor Day holiday. Canada scrapped its digital services tax targeting U.S. technology firms late on Sunday, just hours before it was due to take effect, in a bid to advance stalled trade negotiations with the United States. The Iran-Israel ceasefire after a 12-day conflict also appeared to be holding, further reducing safe-haven demand. "The dollar remains pressured, which is limiting the extent of the slide for gold. However, the $3,250 level shapes as a key support level for gold. Any breach of this level could see losses accelerate towards the $3,200 level," Waterer said. Stable geopolitical and economic conditions often reduce demand for gold as a safe-haven asset, while the non-yielding asset's appeal further wanes in a high-interest-rate environment. Spot silver rose 0.5% to $36.16 per ounce, platinum firmed 2% to $1,366.63, while palladium was up 1.6% at $1,151.36. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/gold-rebounds-over-one-month-low-weaker-dollar-2025-06-30/

2025-06-30 06:17

Dollar index on track for biggest H1 drop since early 1970s Euro hits highest since 2021 against the greenback China trade progress precedes July 9 tariff deadline Canadian dollar strengthens after US digital tax is halted NEW YORK, June 30 (Reuters) - The dollar hit a near four-year low against the euro on Monday amid worries over the rising U.S. government deficit and uncertainty surrounding trade deals with major countries. Senate Republicans will try to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill, despite divisions within the party about its expected $3.3 trillion hit to the nation's debt pile. Sign up here. The dollar dropped 0.63% to 0.79355 against the Swiss franc , on track to end the month down 3.60%. The greenback has lost about 12.5% against the Swissie this year. The euro hit its highest against the dollar since September 2021 at $1.1780. It was last up 0.45% and set to gain about 3.8% for the month. The single currency has gained about 14% against the dollar this year. "There's a lot of focus around the big, huge bill and whether that gets approved," said Amo Sahota, executive director at FX consulting firm Klarity FX in San Francisco. "The dollar has been on a weakening trend. We are halfway through the year and the big winners have been the stocky (Swedish krona), the Swiss franc, and the euro. The euro's fortunes turned after the euro zone announced a huge spending bill." The EU is open to accepting a trade agreement with the US that would apply a universal 10% tariff on many of its exports, Bloomberg News reported on Monday. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that countries could still face sharply higher tariffs on July 9 even if they are negotiating in good faith, adding that any potential extensions will be up to Trump. The U.S. and China had resolved issues around shipments of Chinese rare earth minerals and magnets to the United States, further modifying a May deal in Geneva, Bessent had said last week. "You have a weak dollar due to a potentially large increase in our budget deficit, and you have continued uncertainty around these tariff deals," said Eugene Epstein, head of structuring for North America at Moneycorp in New Jersey. "We had this positive news from the EU for a little bit and we had potential positive deals coming up, but then you had Trump doing a temporary about-face on Friday on Canada and so forth," Epstein said. Trump said Japan would be among countries to receive a trade letter outlining tariffs they would need to pay to the U.S. The dollar was down 0.36% to 144.45 against the Japanese yen , on track to finish the month flat versus the Asian currency. Canada halted its plans to begin collecting a new digital services tax targeting U.S. technology firms just hours before it was due to start on Monday in a bid to advance stalled trade negotiations with Washington. The Canadian dollar strengthened against the U.S. currency on the session. It was set to notch its fifth straight month of gains against the greenback. The loonie was up 0.41% versus the greenback to C$1.353 per dollar. The dollar index , which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.35% to 96.86, on track for its sixth straight month of losses. It is set to mark its worst half-year since the 1970s. "It's kind of rotating a game of musical chairs, whether it's the 'big beautiful bill', the trade deals, and then the Iran-Israel conflict. It's all like taking turns to be at center stage; once one thing passes and the other thing is focused on," Epstein said. The Swedish krona strengthened 0.48% versus the dollar to 9.462. Sterling strengthened 0.04% to $1.3719. It is up 2% in June. (This story has been refiled to add 'the' in paragraph 1, to correct the nickname for the Swedish krona in paragraph 5, and to correct verb tense in paragraph 6) https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/dollar-droops-optimism-over-us-trade-deals-boost-fed-easing-bets-2025-06-30/