Real-time News
French Foreign Ministry: The Chargé dAffaires ad interim of the Russian Embassy in Paris was summoned by France on July 17.July 17 – The Pakistani military issued a statement on the 17th, saying that Pakistani security forces killed 24 terrorists in an operation in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in the past 24 hours. The statement said that attacks by the Pakistani Taliban against police officers have surged recently, and the killed terrorists are suspected of involvement in multiple terrorist attacks and acts of violence. The statement added that security forces seized a large quantity of weapons and ammunition during the operation, and the clearing operation is still ongoing.July 17th - The cost of hedging against dollar volatility has fallen to its lowest level this year. This week, the one-month implied volatility index for the dollar spot index fell to its lowest level since December last year, a significant decline from the surge following the outbreak of the Iran-Iraq conflict in March. This indicates that despite the uncertain outlook for Federal Reserve policy and the resurgence of conflicts in the Middle East, traders still believe that the likelihood of a major unexpected event impacting the global reserve currency is extremely low. This calm market situation reinforces a key feature of the market this year: the resilience of the US stock market and the reduction in currency volatility have encouraged investors to flock to carry trades, which profit from interest rate differentials and tend to perform best when exchange rates and risk appetite remain stable. Francesco Pesole, a foreign exchange strategist at ING, said the decline in dollar volatility is "remarkable." He noted, "The resilience of the stock market, supported by the AI boom, seems to be stabilizing the exchange rate and helping to maintain a self-reinforcing environment of low volatility and thriving carry trades." He added that even if tech stocks experience a pullback, this trading strategy will remain popular.July 17th - U.S. consumer confidence rose to its highest level in five months in July, but this improvement may be temporary given that renewed conflict in the Middle East has pushed up gasoline prices. The University of Michigan Consumer Survey said Friday that its consumer confidence index rose to 54.4 this month, the highest level since February, compared to a final reading of 49.5 in June and economists forecast of 51.0. The survey was conducted from June 23 to July 13, with more than 70% of the interviews completed before the collapse of the ceasefire agreement between the U.S. and Iran last week, an event that pushed gasoline prices to a one-month high. Gasoline prices subsequently rose as a result. "The improvement in consumer confidence this month was across all groups, regardless of age, income, wealth, or political affiliation," said Joanne Xu, director of the consumer survey project. "However, with prices remaining high, consumers are not optimistic about the economic outlook; the confidence index is down 12% from a year ago. Therefore, if the recent downward trend in gasoline prices continues, this momentum of confidence may be difficult to sustain."The Dow Jones Industrial Average turned positive, with Micron Technology (MU.O) up 1.5%, SanDisk (SNDK.O) up 1.7%, and SK Hynix ADR (SKHY.O) up 3%.
