Crude oil futures rose more than 1% on Thursday, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israel’s military to intensify attacks against Iran. U.S. crude oil was last up $1.36, or 1.81%, to $76.50 per barrel by 9:38 a.m. ET, while global benchmark Brent added $1.10, or 1.43%, to $77.80 per…
Tesla has inked its first deal to build a grid-scale battery power plant in China amid a strained trading relationship between Beijing and Washington. The U.S. company posted on the Chinese social media service Weibo that the project would be the largest of its kind in China when completed. Utility-scale…
To sustain its vital oil revenue amid Israeli attacks, Iran is reportedly maintaining crude oil supplies by loading tankers individually and repositioning its floating oil storage closer to China, according to a Reuters report.Last week’s conflict between Iran and Israel presents a new challenge for Iran. Iran employs a “shadow fleet”…
JPMorgan Chase and other fund managers are swarming into emerging markets as volatility clouds global financial assets amidst the escalating Israel-Iran conflict, according to a recent Bank of America survey.Emerging markets were hit rather significantly in April after the Trump administration announced unprecedented tariffs on the bloc.However, with the 90-day…
The International Monetary Fund warns that Europe is slipping into stagnation without massive efforts to change the tide. The rising geopolitical risks, slow growth and weak investments are the main risks that plague Europe.Europe’s GDP slowdownThe Washington-based institution pointed to trade tensions and weak demand as primary inhibitors of economic momentum,…
Brazil’s Central Bank hiked its benchmark interest rate, the Selic, to 15%, the highest since 2006, suggesting a firm stance against ongoing inflationary pressures. The decision, made following the most recent meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee (Copom), represented the seventh consecutive increase, this time by 0.25 percentage points. According…
Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence venture, xAI, and its acquisition of the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, valued at $33 billion, have drawn heightened scrutiny from European Union regulators, reported Bloomberg. This new focus comes as the European Commission prepares to assess potential penalties against X under the…
Coinbase’s chief of policy, Faryar Shirzad, hails the bipartisan momentum behind the US Senate’s recent approval of the GENIUS Act.In a recent interview with CNBC, Shirzad said the subsequent legal clarity around stablecoins is a pivotal moment for the future of blockchain-enabled payments in the United States.The upper chamber passed…
A recent government report from the Canada Mortgage & Housing Corp. (CMHC) indicates that even a doubling of homebuilding activity in Canada would only restore housing affordability to levels seen immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic. This new assessment revises earlier, more optimistic projections and underscores the escalating scale of the…
Asia-Pacific stock markets are seeing mixed trade Friday morning, with investors carefully watching escalating tensions between Israel and Iran and analyzing new economic data from China. The escalating geopolitical situation, particularly reports that US President Donald Trump is weighing a military strike on Iran, is casting a shadow over regional…