Show dollar sign in tableau

The greenback notched a fresh six-month high of 140.91 yen in early Asia trade and was headed for a monthly gain of more than 3% against the Japanese currency. The yen's renewed decline has come on the back of rising U.S. Treasury yields, as bets grow that interest rates in the United States would stay higher for longer. Data released on Friday showed that U.S. consumer spending increased more than expected in April and inflation picked up, adding to signs of a still-resilient economy. Yields on U.S. Treasuries jumped on the back of the data, with the two-year yield , which typically reflects near-term interest rate expectations, rising more than 10 basis points to an over two-month high of 4.639% on Friday. Cash U.S. Treasuries were untraded in Asia on Monday, owing to the Memorial Day holiday in the United States, while futures were broadly steady. Ten-year futures' implied yield was 3.84%. The UK market is similarly closed on Monday for a holiday. Against the dollar, … [Read more...] about Dollar elevated as sticky inflation cements Fed hike bets, debt ceiling deal lifts optimism

Senior economist Le Xuan Nghia What global factors currently suggest a move towards lower interest rates in the coming months? In my view, the key factor is the US dollar continues to weaken. Even though the US Federal Reserve (Fed) raised the base interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point in early May, meeting the target range of 5.0-5.25, it is likely there will be an interest rate cut later in the year. A number of factors support this stance, such as inflation in the US slowing, and the possibility of the labour market worsening in the next few months with increased lay-offs in several finance and technology fields. Next is the possibility of widespread bankruptcies in the banking system, as seen in the recent cases of PacWest and Western Alliance. Meanwhile, the US and EU economies face going into recession as the Russia-Ukraine conflict sees no signs of ending in the foreseeable future. This is also the very factor leading to a deep depreciation of the US … [Read more...] about An expert’s view on interest rate movements

KAMPALA - Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni signed one of the world's toughest anti-LGBTQ laws, including the death penalty for "aggravated homosexuality", drawing Western condemnation and risking sanctions from aid donors. Same-sex relations were already illegal in Uganda, as in more than 30 African countries, but the new law goes further. It stipulates capital punishment for "serial offenders" against the law and transmission of a terminal illness like HIV/AIDS through gay sex. It also decrees a 20-year sentence for "promoting" homosexuality. "The Ugandan president has today legalised state-sponsored homophobia and transphobia," said Clare Byarugaba, a Ugandan rights activist. United States President Joe Biden called the move "a tragic violation" of human rights and said Washington would evaluate the implications of the law "on all aspects of U.S. engagement with Uganda." "We are considering additional steps, including the application of sanctions and restriction of entry … [Read more...] about Uganda enacts harsh anti-LGBTQ law including death penalty

South Korea's arms sales jumped to more than $17 billion in 2022 from $7.25 billion the year before, according to its defence ministry, as Western countries scrambled to arm Ukraine and tensions rose in other hot spots such as North Korea and the South China Sea. The arms deal with Poland, a key NATO member, last year included hundreds of Chunmoo rocket launchers, K2 tanks, K9 self-propelled howitzers, and FA-50 fighter aircraft. The deal's value and the number of weapons involved made it stand out even among the world's biggest defence players. South Korean and Polish officials say their partnership will help them conquer the European arms market even beyond the Ukraine war, with Seoul providing high-quality weapons faster than other countries and Poland offering manufacturing capacity and a sales pipeline into Europe. Reuters spoke to 13 company executives and government officials, including those directly involved in the deal, who said the arrangement provides a blueprint for … [Read more...] about Inside South Korea’s race to become one of the world’s biggest arms dealers

Global leaders should be working to reduce "the risk of extinction" from artificial intelligence technology, a group of industry chiefs and experts warned on Tuesday. A one-line statement signed by dozens of specialists, including Sam Altman whose firm OpenAI created the ChatGPT bot, said tackling the risks from AI should be "a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war". ChatGPT burst into the spotlight late last year, demonstrating an ability to generate essays, poems and conversations from the briefest of prompts. The program's wild success sparked a gold rush with billions of dollars of investment into the field, but critics and insiders have raised the alarm. Common worries include the possibility that chatbots could flood the web with disinformation, that biased algorithms will churn out racist material, or that AI-powered automation could lay waste to entire industries. Superintelligent machines The latest statement, … [Read more...] about AI poses ‘extinction’ risk, say experts

In the first five months of the year, Viet Nam exported about $136.17 billion worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6 per cent, while imports totalled $126.37 billion, down 17.9 per cent year on year. — VNA/VNS Photo Viet Nam’s import-export value in the first five months of this year was estimated at US$262.54 billion, down 14.7 per cent year-on-year, with a trade surplus of $9.8 billion, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced on Monday. In the period, Viet Nam exported about $136.17 billion worth of goods, a year-on-year drop of 11.6 per cent, while imports totalled $126.37 billion, down 17.9 per cent year on year. As many as 23 export items joined the more than one-billion-US dollar club, making up 87.4 per cent of the total export turnover. Regarding the structure of exports, processed commodities earned $120.24 billion (88.3 per cent); agro-forestry products, $10.79 billion; aquatic products, $3.37 billion; and fuel and minerals, about $1.77 billion. As for … [Read more...] about Viet Nam posts trade surplus of US$9.8 billion in five months