Trump claims to have ended seven wars, says he deserves Nobel Prize
U.S. President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly on Tuesday that he ended seven long-running conflicts in just seven months and insisted “ev...
The pound and the yen came under strain on Wednesday, weighed down by renewed investor concerns over global fiscal health and political uncertainty in Japan.
In the previous session, traders offloaded long-dated government bonds in Europe and the United States as attention turned once again to rising debt burdens in major economies. This rekindled worries that governments were losing control of their budget deficits. Britain’s gilt market was particularly hard hit, with 30-year borrowing costs climbing to their highest level since 1998. That left sterling exposed, and it slipped more than 1% on Tuesday before trading 0.12% lower at $1.3378.
“It’s a Europe-wide issue,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX research at National Australia Bank. “France faces similar problems, but in the UK it resonates more because of the memory of the Liz Truss episode. Markets are concerned about the upcoming autumn statement and whether the government will take credible steps to tackle the deficit and the rapid build-up of debt.”
In Japan, the yen was also weaker, down 0.2% at 148.62 per dollar after a 0.8% slide the day before. The move followed the announcement by Hiroshi Moriyama, secretary general of the ruling party and close aide to Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, that he planned to resign. His departure could affect Ishiba’s already fragile position following an election defeat.
“Political uncertainty, and the chance that Prime Minister Ishiba may resign in the coming days or weeks, is clearly weighing on the yen,” noted Kit Juckes, chief global FX strategist at Société Générale.
Sanae Takaichi, among the frontrunners to succeed Ishiba, is widely seen as favouring ultra-low domestic interest rates, adding further pressure on the currency.
The weakness in sterling and the yen buoyed the dollar, which rose 0.66% on Tuesday and last stood at 98.44 against a basket of currencies. The euro edged 0.1% lower to $1.1630, extending its earlier fall, while the Australian dollar slipped 0.1% to $0.6514 and the New Zealand dollar was 0.14% lower at $0.5857.
Beyond fiscal and political risks, traders are closely watching this week’s series of U.S. labour market data releases, culminating in Friday’s non-farm payrolls report. The figures are expected to help guide Federal Reserve policymakers on the likelihood of a rate cut later this month.
On the bond front, the two-year U.S. Treasury yield, a gauge of short-term rate expectations, eased slightly to 3.6495% on Wednesday. The 30-year yield, however, hovered just below 5%, mirroring the broader global surge in long-dated bond yields.
AnewZ has learned that India has once again blocked Azerbaijan’s application for full membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, while Pakistan’s recent decision to consider diplomatic relations with Armenia has been coordinated with Baku as part of Azerbaijan’s peace agenda.
A day of mourning has been declared in Portugal to pay respect to victims who lost their lives in the Lisbon Funicular crash which happened on Wednesday evening.
A Polish Air Force pilot was killed on Thursday when an F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training flight ahead of the 2025 Radom International Air Show.
Video from the USGS (United States Geological Survey) showed on Friday (19 September) the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii erupting and spewing lava.
At least eight people have died and more than 90 others were injured following a catastrophic gas tanker explosion on a major highway in Mexico City’s Iztapalapa district on Wednesday, authorities confirmed.
Semiconductor shares from Asia to Europe rose sharply on Tuesday after Nvidia unveiled a $100 billion partnership with OpenAI to build massive Artificial Intelligence (AI) systems requiring millions of processors.
Porsche (P911_p.DE) saw its shares fall by 7.5% by late morning on Monday after the carmaker scaled back its electric vehicle rollout and lowered its forecast, following a costly strategic reversal driven by weak demand.
Germany's parliament approved on Thursday the nation's first annual budget since sweeping reforms to loosen fiscal rules were passed earlier this year, securing record investments to revive the economy while committing to an increase in defence spending.
European shares nudged up on Thursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve lowered borrowing costs for the first time since December, while shares of SIG plummeted after the Swiss-based company issued a profit warning.
Meta Platforms on Wednesday launched its first consumer-ready smart glasses with a built-in display, seeking to extend the momentum of its Ray-Ban line, one of the early consumer hits of the artificial intelligence (AI) era.
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