Market Pulse - Currencies
An interest rate cut may be warranted soon, Fed's Bullard says
The head of the Federal Reserve bank of St. Louis, James Bullard, believes a reduction in short-term official interest rates may be "warranted soon", even if only as insurance against a sharper-than-expected slowdown in the economy.
US manufacturing ISM dips unexpectedly in May
Factory sector activity in the States cooled a tad more than expected last month amid widespread concern over the impact of trade tariffs, falling order backlogs and output, the results of a widely-followed survey showed, although sentiment was still described as "predominantly positive".
Infineon acquires Cypress Semiconductors in €9.0bn deal
German semiconductor manufacturer Infineon agreed to acquire US firm Cypress Semiconductors in a deal worth €9bn, including debt.
UK manufacturing PMI registers unexpectedly sharp drop in May
Factory sector activity in the UK shrank for the first time in nearly three years in May, as companies began to unwind the stockpiles that they had built up ahead of the original Brexit date and amid increased trade tensions globally, according to the results of a closely-followed survey.
Monday newspaper round-up: Taiwan, Global airlines, Manufacturing
Beijing is prepared to take “resolute action” to press its claims over Taiwan, China’s defence minister has warned as he argued that suppressing the Tiananmen revolt in 1989 was justified. Speaking at a security conference in Singapore yesterday General Wei Fenghe criticised US support for Taiwan, vowing that the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) would not "yield a single inch of the country’s sacred land". China considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province since a bloody civil war in the 1940s and seeks to unify with the island.