Mike Dolan
7 min read
By Mike Dolan
LONDON (Reuters) -What matters in U.S. and global markets today
I'm excited to announce that I'm now part of Reuters Open Interest (ROI), an essential new source for data-driven, expert commentary on market and economic trends. You can find ROI on the Reuters website, and you can follow us on LinkedIn and X.
Intro
Not for the first time this year, markets are being hit by multiple crosscurrents. Today it's an oil price surge driven by Middle East tensions alongside surprisingly benign U.S. inflation readings.
I discuss this and the rest of today's market news below. In today's column, I explore a surprising twist in the global dollar debate that could reshape how investors think about currency risk.
I'll be off tomorrow so Morning Bid will take a day's holiday, but back to regular programming on Monday.
Today's Market Minute
* U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday U.S. personnel were being moved out of the Middle East because "it could be a dangerous place", adding that the United States would not allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.
* U.S. consumer prices increased less than expected in May as cheaper gasoline partially offset higher rents, but inflation is expected to accelerate in the coming months on the back of the Trump administration's import tariffs.
*An Air India plane bound for London with 242 people on board crashed minutes after taking off from India's western city of Ahmedabad on Thursday, the airline and police said, and India's federal health minister said that "many people" were killed.
* U.S. trade negotiations have transitioned from their tumultuous opening act into a new chapter: the Slow Grind. It may be less turbulent than this past spring's drama, but no less worrying for investors.
* A proposed U.S. tax targeting foreign investors could hurt European energy giants that operate in America's booming oil and gas sector, undermining President Donald Trump's energy dominance agenda. Read the latest from ROI columnist Ron Bousso.
Oil pops, dollar drops
With investors trying to read the runes of this week's 'framework' trade agreement between the U.S. and China on Wednesday, worries surfaced about the state of play in the Middle East after the U.S. announced that it was moving personnel out of the region ahead of talks with Iran over the latter's nuclear-related activity.
Crude oil prices promptly jumped 4% and hit their highest in two months before giving up some of those gains earlier today. European travel stocks and auto makers fell more than 2% on Thursday on the jitters. Gold, however, was only marginally higher, and the dollar fell.
