Oil prices edged up on Thursday, with markets focusing on the high-stakes meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping to see if it will yield any positive results towards a resolution for the Iran war.
Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said Wednesday that the U.S. labor market appears slightly improved compared to earlier this year, while the Iran war has intensified inflation that was already elevated.
The glove industry is not expected to benefit meaningfully from the recent Andes hantavirus outbreak, as the risk of a large-scale global health crisis similar to the Covid-19 pandemic remains low, according to UOB Kay Hian (UOBKH) Research.
Nissan forecast more than $1 billion in profit for its fiscal year on Wednesday, predicting a relatively modest hit from the Iran war and an increasing impact from cost-cutting.
The European Central Bank may need to raise interest rates to prevent higher fuel costs from the Iran war from spreading to wages and broader prices, ECB Chief Economist Philip Lane said on Wednesday.
Asian stocks clocked mild gains on Thursday, aided by some strength in chipmaking and technology stocks, while Chinese shares fell as a high-level U.S.-China summit kicked off in Beijing.