Trade talks in London hang over markets

US-China trade talks in London held markets' attention on Monday, with Asian stocks rising, Wall Street mixed and Europe dipping.
The London negotiations, following on from a first round in Geneva last month, aim to quell renewed tariff tensions between Washington and Beijing.
New York's blue-chip Dow index was lower, while the broader S&P 500 was flat and the techheavy Nasdaq rose modestly in late morning trading.
Asian shares closed up on hopes of a deal, and catching up with Wall Street from Friday, when US jobs data suggested the American economy was doing well, for now.
The dollar, however, dipped amid persistent fears of higher US inflation in the pipeline from Trump's generalised tariffs weighing on it.
London, Paris and Frankfurt indices all closed lower.
While the US economy has been showing resilience, official data on Monday showed China's exports to the United States last month grew at a slower pace than expected, even as they picked up to the EU and Asia.
The US-China talks took place following a call between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping last Thursday. They sought a de-escalation after each had accused the other of violating terms of a tariffs reprieve struck in Geneva in mid-May.
'Some kind of accord would be welcome, but they might even be happy if the two sides merely agree to keep talking,' said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG. 'To jaw jaw is better than to (trade) war war, it seems,' he said a note to clients.
The US side in London on Monday was being led by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, while Vice Premier He Lifeng headed the Chinese team.
Their meeting was helped by news that Beijing on Saturday approved some applications for rare-earth exports, while US aviation giant Boeing is to start sending commercial jets to China for the first time since April.
Easing China's export controls on rare-earths was key for Washington, 'while China wants the US to rethink immigration curbs on students, restrictions on access to advanced technology including microchips, and to make it easier for Chinese tech providers to access US consumers,' said Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB.
'The outcome of these discussions will be crucial for market sentiment,' she said.
The dollar's weakness came as economists warned that Trump's tariffs on most of the world could reignite inflation, and as the US Federal Reserve weighs whether to lower interest rates.
In corporate news, entertainment giant Warner Bros. Discovery announced plans to split into two publicly traded companies, sending its share price higher by more than 7%.
One would be a Streaming and Studios company covering film and TV production and catalogues, and the other a Global Network company with television brands including CNN and Discovery, and free-to-air channels in Europe.
US semiconductor maker Qualcomm also announced it was buying a UK firm, Alphawave, for $2.4 billion as demand for database infrastructure heated up from demand in the AI sector.
Alphawave shares in London jumped almost 19%. Qualcomm's shares rose 3.6% in New York.

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9 hours ago

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HH Shaikh Nasser bin Hamad highlights Bahrain's economic progress in address at SPIEF

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His Highness expressed Bahrain's deep appreciation to His Excellency President Vladimir Putin for the invitation and the well organised forum, which reflects Russia's commitment to advancing global economic dialogue. His Highness reiterated the importance of the SPIEF as a key platform for strengthening partnerships with fellow countries, particularly the Russian Federation, and to support sustainable development in line with the goals of Bahrain's Economic Vision 2030. BNA(R)

Daily Tribune

a day ago

• Daily Tribune

US steps up sanctions as Mideast attacks flare

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Gulf Insider

2 days ago

• Gulf Insider

White House Says Trump To Decide On Attacking Iran 'Within Next 2 Weeks'

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The Guardian reports that Trump only wants to strike Iran only if the US can destroy the Fordow enrichment facility. Destruction of Fordow would at least require the 30k pound bunker buster bomb, but still may not be effective in ending Iran's enrichment capacity. Netanyahu says that while regime change in Tehran is not the current goal, the option is on the table. Tactical nuke on the table? Will the Iranians close the Strait of Hormuz, choking off global oil shipping? Reports of US bases in the region taking protective and defensive measures Israeli intelligence official says 'imminent collapse' of Iranian government is 'far from the truth' – NBC reports Iran is warning that a 'third party intervention' would spark an immediate military response. Donald Trump has suggested to defense officials it would make sense for the US to launch strikes against Iran only if the so-called 'bunker buster' bomb was guaranteed to destroy the critical uranium enrichment facility at Fordow, according to people familiar with the deliberations. Trump was told that dropping the GBU-57s, a 13.6-tonne (30,000lb) bomb would effectively eliminate Fordow but he does not appear to be fully convinced, the people said, and has held off authorizing strikes as he also awaits the possibility that the threat of US involvement would lead Iran to talks. The effectiveness of GBU-57s has been a topic of deep contention at the Pentagon since the start of Trump's term, according to two defense officials who were briefed that perhaps only a tactical nuclear weapon could be capable of destroying Fordow because of how deeply it is buried. Tactical nukes now? And there's much, much more that needs to be considered. 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Meanwhile… CNN put together a clip of Tulsi Gabbard testifying recently that "Iran is not building a nuclear weapon" followed by Trump saying "I don't care what she said" — Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) June 18, 2025 As Israel's war with Iran nears the end of its first week, each side continued to inflict destruction from above in Thursday's opening hours. In a development certain to be exploited by proponents of US intervention, the largest hospital in southern Israel reportedly received 'extensive' damage after suffering a hit from an Iranian ballistic missile. Meanwhile, defying warnings of radiation dangers from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the Israeli Air Force bombed Iran's Arak heavy water reactor, even though Iran modified it pursuant to the 2015 nuclear deal to make it incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. In its initial retaliatory strikes on Israel, Iran had largely confined its missile barrages to the night. However, after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) observed significant success in evading Israel's highly-hyped Iron Dome, Iranian barrages are now increasingly coming in broad daylight, as they did on Thursday morning in a 30-missile strike that caused dozens of injuries, six of them severe: One of Iran's missiles struck Soroka Hospital in the southern city of Beersheba, with health officials saying the explosion caused extensive damage along with injuries. Iran said the missile was aimed at a nearby Israeli military intelligence facility; the Times said the nearest military facility it knows of is over two kilometers away. Verified by the Times , this video captures the sound of the thunderous explosion blast and the huge mushroom cloud that rose up from the impact at the hospital: Israeli President Isaac Herzog emphasized that the hospital has a staff of 'Jews and Arabs work[ing] side by side…caring for Israelis of all faiths and our neighbors the Palestinians.' Thanks in large part to a Wednesday evacuation of the floor that was struck, no fatalities have been reported at the hospital, and only minor injuries. Israeli officials quickly condemned the attack. 'The missile fired toward Soroka Medical Center is an act of terror and crosses a red line,' Health Minister Uriel Buso told Times of Israel . Israeli critics will be quick to point out Israel's enormously destructive campaign in Gaza has damaged or destroyed 94% of the hospitals in the territory. The Iranian barrage also caused major damage in the major city of Ramat Gan, an important business and educational hub just 5 kilometers east of Tel Aviv. With many modern skyscrapers, Ramat Gan has been nicknamed 'the Manhattan of Israel.' Some of those shiny skyscrapers were shattered on Thursday morning, as two people were seriously injured: On the other side of the war map, Israeli bombs and missiles rained down on Iran, with the Israeli military announcing 40 fighter jets hit dozens of facilities, including the Arak heavy water reactor, and a facility in Natanz that Israel claims Iran is using to develop a nuclear weapon. In March, the US intelligence community said it continues to conclude that, true to its decades of assurances, Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon. Ironically, Israel's attack on Arak helps draw attention to the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) nuclear deal that Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018, sowing the seeds of the war that's raging today. In compliance with that deal, Iran filled the heavy water reactor core with cement so it would be incapable of producing weapons-grade plutonium. Other JCPOA modifications were also in progress at the Arak facility. In announcing its Thursday strike, the IDF even referred to it as the 'inactive nuclear reactor in Arak' — which only helps underscore the fact that the original nuclear deal was fully achieving its purpose, and it was only discarded in deference to Israel and its Western collaborators looking for a false pretense for war, one that's astonishingly similar to the one used for the disastrous invasion of Iraq. Earlier in the day, Israel had warned Iranians to evacuate from the vicinity of the reactor, using social media posts that featured satellite imagery of the facility in a red circle. However, Israel's warning came after reports that Iranians were enduring a near-total loss of internet access more than 12 hours at the last report. The outage was reportedly the work of the Iranian government; the New York Times said the move was likely motivated in part by fear of Israeli cyberattacks. Earlier this week, Israel's US ambassador cryptically promised 'some surprises on Thursday night and Friday that will make [Israel's explosive-beeper] operation [in Lebanon] almost seem simple.'