French Manufacturing Confidence Unexpectedly Dips in June

French manufacturing confidence fell unexpectedly in June, adding to warning signs for an economy already struggling to keep pace with European peers.
National statistics agency Insee's measure of sentiment in industry fell to 96 from 97, while economists surveyed by Bloomberg had forecast a one-point improvement.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

20 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Forget chocolate! The world now envies Switzerland's zero interest rates

The world envies Swiss chocolate, army knives, and now . . . interest rates? Housing market weakness triggers Lennar to offer biggest incentives since 2009 The Trump administration is trying to bring back asbestos 3 tiny behaviors that make you the calmest person in the room Swiss National Bank, Switzerland's central bank, moved interest rates to zero this week, a reduction of 25 basis points, and a notable detraction from other central banks around the world, such as the Federal Reserve in the U.S. and the Bank of England in the U.K. In a statement, the Swiss National Bank said that the move was made in relation to declining inflation worries—and that it's expecting the economies to buckle under the volatility created, in part, due to the Trump administration's trade policies. 'With today's easing of monetary policy, the SNB is countering the lower inflationary pressure. The SNB will continue to monitor the situation closely and adjust its monetary policy if necessary, to ensure that inflation remains within the range consistent with price stability over the medium term,' the statement read. 'The global economic outlook for the coming quarters has deteriorated due to the increase in trade tensions. In its baseline scenario, the SNB anticipates that growth in the global economy will weaken over the coming quarters. Inflation in the U.S. is likely to rise over the coming quarters. In Europe, by contrast, a further decrease in inflationary pressure is to be expected.' Meanwhile, in the U.S., the Federal Reserve's latest meeting wrapped up this week with no change in interest rates, despite pressure from the White House and others to lower them. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other Fed governors have been reluctant to do so, as inflation data still has not gotten close enough to its 2% target, and employment data has remained positive. Across the Atlantic, however, another European country, Norway, also cut rates this week. And some experts think that the Swiss could go even further, instituting negative interest rates at some point this year. 'There are risks that the SNB will go further in the future if inflationary pressures don't start to increase, and the lowest the policy rate could go is -0.75%, the rate it reached in the 2010s,' Swiss National Bank's Chairman Martin Schlegel told CNBC on Thursday. 'But what I can say is that going negative, we would not take this decision lightly.' This post originally appeared at to get the Fast Company newsletter:

Yahoo

36 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Spot Crypto ETF Filings for XRP, SOL, DOGE Among Those With Overwhelming SEC Approval Odds: Bloomberg

Odds are stacked that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission approves most of the filed crypto exchange-traded funds, including the various XRP ETFs, by their respective deadlines, according to Bloomberg Analysts James Seyffart and Eric Balchunas. 'We are raising our odds for the vast majority of the spot crypto ETF filings to 90% or higher,' Bloomberg Intelligence's James Seyffart said in a post on X. 'Engagement from the SEC is a very positive sign in our opinion.' According to the analysts, ETFs for assets like Litecoin, Solana, XRP, Dogecoin, and Cardano all now sit at or above the 90% mark. These estimates reflect growing optimism from ETF specialists following a wave of 19b-4 acknowledgements and S-1 amendment requests from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Analysts view this back-and-forth process as a signal that the SEC is now more willing to work with issuers. The only asset lagging behind is SUI, filed solely by Canary. Bloomberg assigns it a 60% chance of approval, citing a lack of regulated futures and regulatory uncertainty. Bettors on Polymarket are also feeling optimistic. They are giving a 98% chance that an XRP ETF gets approved this year, and a 91% chance a SOL ETF gets the green light. It's also likely that a DOGE ETF gets a go-ahead, with bettors giving that a 71% chance of happening.

Yahoo

42 minutes ago

• Yahoo

Rippling spy says men have been following him, and his wife is afraid

If becoming a spy sounds like an exciting way to live like a le Carré character, let this newest affidavit from confessed Rippling spy Keith O'Brien serve as a warning. On Friday, an Irish judge granted O'Brien a restraining order against several men who have not yet been identified, according to the court order seen by TechCrunch. O'Brien testified that multiple men — two in a gray Skoda Superb on one occasion, and more often, a short-haired, heavy-set man in a black SUV, sometimes accompanied by a large dog — had repeatedly followed his car and watched his home. O'Brien's story has captured the imagination of the tech industry after his colorful confession in April, in which he alleged that he was a spy for Deel. He said he was paid €5,000 a month to steal Rippling's internal data on everything from products to customers. Rippling caught him by setting up a honeypot Slack channel. On the day he was caught, O'Brien pretended to flush his phone down the corporate toilet and later smashed it, dropping pieces down the drain at his mother-in-law's house, according to his affidavit. Now he's the star witness for Rippling in its lawsuit against Deel. Rippling is even picking up the tab for his legal and related expenses, its lawyers testified. Deel is also countersuing Rippling, claiming it was spied on too, by a Rippling employee impersonating a customer. The two HR tech companies have been bitter rivals for years after Deel — once a Rippling customer — began offering competing products. In the latest part of the saga, O'Brien testified that he tried to lose the black SUV following his car by making sudden turns and taking roundabout ways to get home, only to see it reappear in his rearview mirror. He hired a security consulting company and feared that someone was placing tracking devices on his car. O'Brien claims all of these incidents have created 'emotional and psychological' damage for himself and his wife. 'We have been experiencing anxiety at home and in public. It has affected our sleep and our concentration,' O'Brien said in his latest affidavit. They are fearful for the safety of their four children. He and his lawyer speculated that this was intended as harassment related to his role as star witness. However, O'Brien's lawyer also admitted in court that they had no evidence tying the men to Deel. Deel also denied knowing anything about the man in the black SUV. According to the Irish publication Business Post, when granting the injunction, the judge apparently said, 'As if they are in a 1970s cops and robbers' TV show. Whatever happens in the dueling court cases, O'Brien has made himself the rope in a bitter tug of war between these two well-funded HR startups. And from what he says in his testimony, it sounds painful. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data