2025-04-10 06:18
PARIS, April 10 (Reuters) - US President Donald Trump's policies in recent weeks have eroded confidence in the US dollar, European Central Bank (ECB) policymaker Francois Villeroy de Galhau said on Thursday. Speaking on France Inter radio, Villeroy - who is also head of the Bank of France - said the protectionism and unpredictability of the Trump administration were "bad elements" for the US economy. Sign up here. On Wednesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries while further ramping up pressure on China, sending global stocks rocketing higher. "The big element of constancy in US policy of the past decades is the attachment to the central role of the dollar. I believe that the Trump administration also has that view, but it is very incoherent in the way it practices that. What has happened in recent days and weeks plays against the confidence in the US currency," Villeroy said. He added that this can be a positive factor in the development of the international role of the euro. "Thank God that Europe, 25 years ago, created the euro. We have created our own monetary autonomy, we can manage our interest rates in a way that is different from the Americans, that was not the case before," he said. Villeroy also reaffirmed he did not expect a recession in France. On Wednesday, French finance minister Eric Lombard trimmed France's 2025 economic growth forecast to 0.7% from 0.9% earlier. https://www.reuters.com/markets/ecbs-villeroy-says-trump-policies-have-eroded-confidence-us-dollar-2025-04-10/
2025-04-10 05:53
US stocks fall after Wednesday's rally, with S&P 500 down 3% Europe, Asia stocks end higher after Trump pauses most tariffs Bond market rout stabilizes while gold prices hit high NEW YORK, April 10 (Reuters) - Major stock indexes and the U.S. dollar dropped on Thursday, with the S&P 500 ending down more than 3% as investors remained skittish, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump's move to temporarily lower tariffs on many countries caused a massive relief rally. Investors fled to safe havens, with gold prices jumping nearly 3% to an all-time high and the dollar hitting a 10-year low against the Swiss franc. Sign up here. Most U.S. Treasury prices were slightly higher, with another strong bond auction on Thursday helping to ease demand concerns amid the tariff-related market volatility. Treasuries had sold off sharply earlier this week. Much uncertainty remains on the tariff front and about the trade war's potential economic fallout. Trump on Wednesday also said he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports, and the White House said a 10% blanket duty on almost all U.S. imports will remain in effect. U.S. tariffs on China now total 145% after the latest hike, the White House told CNBC on Thursday. "The realization is that while we got some good news yesterday, we still have to live in a world where there's new uncertainty," said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth in New York. The stock declines came despite U.S. data showing consumer prices unexpectedly fell in March. Amid the head-spinning changes in the market and news on tariffs, investors also are gearing up for the start of quarterly U.S. earnings, with results from some of the biggest U.S. banks including JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) , opens new tab due on Friday. "There will still be a lot of pulled guidance," said Jake Dollarhide, chief executive officer of Longbow Asset Management in Tulsa. "It may be that the market is taking back some of yesterday's rip-your-face-off rally because they realize some of the relief is not as great as they thought." Markets have been roiled since Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs late on April 2. Following the whipsaw of Wednesday's bounce and Thursday's selloff, the S&P 500 remained 7.1% below where it was just before the reciprocal tariffs were announced last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI) , opens new tab fell 1,014.79 points, or 2.50%, to 39,593.66, the S&P 500 (.SPX) , opens new tab fell 188.85 points, or 3.46%, to 5,268.05 and the Nasdaq Composite (.IXIC) , opens new tab fell 737.66 points, or 4.31%, to 16,387.31. MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe (.MIWD00000PUS) , opens new tab fell 6.01 points, or 0.77%, to 779.27. Trump's reversal on tariffs on Wednesday had also pushed overseas equities higher. The pan-European STOXX 600 (.STOXX) , opens new tab index ended up 3.7%, and stocks in Asia also finished sharply higher. In response to Trump's 90-day tariff pause, the European Union will delay retaliatory levies on American goods as countries within the bloc scramble to reach trade deals with Washington, said European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen. The dollar fell against major peers. Against the Swiss franc , the dollar weakened 3.89% to 0.825. The euro was up 2.23%. Against the Japanese yen , the dollar weakened 2.07% to 144.66. The U.S. Treasury Department saw good demand for a sale of 30-year bonds on Thursday after a strong 10-year note sale the day before, easing concerns that buyers would shut the debt. Analysts attributed rapid yield increases this week to large liquidations as hedge funds and other asset managers unwound trades and sold assets due to margin calls and losses. Concerns had also increased that a large holder of Treasuries, such as China, may be unloading some of its portfolio as a trade war between the world's top two economies intensifies. The 10-year note yield was last down 1 basis point on the day at 4.386%, while the interest-rate sensitive two-year yield fell 11 basis points to 3.843%. Yields move opposite to prices. Oil prices fell, erasing the previous session's rally, with U.S. crude declining $2.28 to settle at $60.07 a barrel and Brent crude easing $2.15 to end at $63.33. Spot gold was up 2.6% at $3,160.82 an ounce, after hitting a record high of $3,171.49 earlier in the session. https://www.reuters.com/markets/global-markets-wrapup-1-2025-04-10/
2025-04-10 05:41
JAKARTA, April 10 (Reuters) - Rebels in Indonesia's Papua region said on Thursday they have killed more than 17 people since the weekend, claiming that they were soldiers disguised as gold miners, and police said the insurgents were holding two hostages. A low-level but increasingly deadly battle for independence has simmered between security forces and rebels in resource-rich Papua ever since it was controversially brought under Indonesian control in a vote overseen by the United Nations in 1969. Sign up here. Sebby Sambom, a Papuan rebel spokesperson, said in a statement the rebels had killed more than 17 people since April 6, including five on Wednesday, and claimed they were military members disguised as gold miners. "If the Indonesian government military wants to chase us, please come to Dekai town, we are in the town," Sebby said, referring to a town in Yahukimo district, where the incident took place. Frega Wenas, a spokesperson for the country's defence ministry, told reporters that 11 illegal miners were ruthlessly killed in the area and denied they were military officers, adding this was the rebels' propaganda. Separately, police said in a statement on Thursday that 35 people in the area were evacuated to another district, while two residents were still being held hostage by the rebels. Frega said the attack was one of the deadliest in recent years. In 2018, a separatist group killed 21 road construction workers in the highland area of Nduga. Rebels in Papua have in recent years managed to acquire better weapons, taken in raids on army posts or sourced from the black market. They have also abducted foreigners, including a New Zealand pilot who was released last year after being held for 19 months. https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/rebels-indonesias-papua-say-they-killed-17-people-this-week-2025-04-10/
2025-04-10 05:30
NEW DELHI, April 10 (Reuters) - Taiwan's Formosa Petrochemical Corp (6505.TW) , opens new tab is operating its refinery at 68% capacity this month, or about 370,000 barrels per day, down from 70% in March due to planned maintenance on one of its refining units, spokesperson KY Lin said on Thursday. Asian export powerhouse Formosa operates a 540,000 barrels-per-day refining complex in Mailiao. The company began an 84-day maintenance programme on its residue fluid catalytic cracking unit (RFCC) on March 3, Lin said. Sign up here. "We plan to keep operating rate lower at around the same level next month as well due to maintenance," he said. Formosa is currently running two of its three naphtha crackers at a combined rate of 60%, while its No. 2 cracker has remained offline for more than a year due to weak demand, Lin said. To supplement feedstock needs, the company purchased liquefied petroleum gas cargoes for the second half of May, according to trade sources. Formosa's flexi-feed crackers can substitute up to 30% of naphtha with LPG, depending on price spreads. "We have bought the cargoes as we plan to switch to LPG feed in May, but we will not increase operating rates as demand is lower," Lin said. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/taiwans-formosa-cuts-refinery-run-rate-68-planned-maintenance-2025-04-10/
2025-04-10 05:28
Trump raises tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% Gold should see $3,600 in about a year's time, analyst says US CPI data due at 1230 GMT April 10 (Reuters) - Gold prices extended gains on Thursday, driven by an escalating trade war between the United States and China, even after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs for other countries. Spot gold was up 1.3% at $3,122.02 an ounce at 1129 GMT, after its biggest daily gain since October 2023 on Wednesday. U.S. gold futures were up 1.9% at $3,137.80. Sign up here. "We're just living in a world of extreme uncertainty. We just don't really know which way this trade war is going to go ... I think for the course of this year, gold will march higher," said Nitesh Shah, commodities strategist at WisdomTree. Trump said on Wednesday he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries, but ramped up the tariff on China to 125% from 104% following Beijing's decision to impose an 84% levy on U.S. goods. The U.S. Federal Reserve's minutes of its meeting last month showed policymakers were nearly unanimous in thinking the U.S. economy faced simultaneous risks of higher inflation and slower growth, with some noting that "difficult trade-offs" could lie ahead for the central bank. Investors' focus is on U.S. consumer price index data at 1230 GMT to gauge the trajectory of the Fed's monetary policy. The market is currently pricing in 84 basis points of rate cuts by year-end. Bullion is viewed as a safe haven amid geopolitical and economic uncertainties, and tends to thrive in a low-interest rate environment. Spot gold prices have maintained an upward trend from last year, and have risen over 18% this year. "My forecast (for gold) is for $3,600 in about a year's time with a lot of upside risk, and I wouldn't be surprised if we get to $4,000," Shah said. Spot silver fell 0.6% to $30.85 an ounce, platinum lost 0.4% to $933.55, and palladium was down 1.7% at $915.68. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/gold-prices-climb-over-1-trump-hikes-china-tariffs-2025-04-10/
2025-04-10 05:09
TOKYO, April 10 (Reuters) - Japan's trade and industry ministry will consider taking action on imports of Chinese steel if any unfair practices are identified under World Trade Organization rules, a ministry official said on Thursday. The official also said that Japan will continue to urge the U.S. government to exempt it from steel and aluminum tariffs. Sign up here. https://www.reuters.com/markets/commodities/japan-act-chinese-steel-imports-if-unfair-practices-found-under-wto-rules-2025-04-10/
