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Dollar Gains For A Second Day

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The dollar edged higher on Wednesday as a rally on Wall Street boosted risk appetite, although gains were capped before the release of Fed minutes later in the day.

Still, moves were muted in currency markets, contrary to the big gains in global stocks and drops in government bond yields in markets such as Italy.

“The dollar has been strongly correlated to risk appetite for much of this year, but in the last few days we have seen this correlation loosening a bit, suggesting markets need more strong economic data to push the dollar higher,” said Manuel Oliveri, an FX strategist at Credit Agricole in London.

Against a basket of its rivals, the dollar rose 0.1 per cent to 95.15. It remains about 2 per cent below a 2018 peak of near 97 hit in mid-August.

Major Wall Street indexes rose by more than 2 per cent each as strong earnings indicated the U.S. economy is still expanding, despite rising interest rates and global trade-war tensions.

But market analysts warned against buying into the dollar’s strength as global financial conditions appeared to be tightening globally.

Cross-currency basis swaps in euros, yen and sterling, money market gauges of offshore dollar liquidity, have widened in recent weeks.

That suggest the U.S. Federal Reserve’s rate hikes have cut into the availability of overseas dollars.

“Risk caution is warranted … the replacement of Fed liquidity has come at the expense of tightening liquidity conditions outside the U.S.,” Morgan Stanley strategists said.

Markets will be looking for clues on the dollar’s direction and the path for U.S. interest rates from minutes of the Fed’s September meeting, due for release later on Wednesday.

Interest rate futures are pricing in a 77 per cent likelihood that the Fed will raise rates in December, according to the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Two more increases are likely next year.

The British pound was down 0.2 per cent at $1.3158 after gaining 0.25 per cent on Tuesday as a crucial European Union (EU) summit got underway.

On Wednesday, the euro traded lower at $1.15575, down 0.2 per cent.

On Tuesday, it reached $1.1622 – its highest since October 1 – before giving up its gains.

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Trump Slams ‘Unpatriotic’ US House Vote To End Iran War

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President Donald Trump on Thursday slammed a vote in the US House seeking to order the withdrawal of American troops from the Iran war, suggesting the “unpatriotic” move disrupted negotiations with Tehran.

The largely symbolic vote came “right in the middle of my final negotiations to end the War with the Islamic Republic of Iran,” Trump said in a post on his Truth Social platform.

“Who would do such an unpatriotic thing. They know where the negotiations stand.”

In a notable rebuke of Trump, four members of his majority Republicans joined Democrats on Wednesday in backing the measure, which passed 215-208 and now heads to the Senate.

The measure, which will ultimately face a presidential veto, marked the first time the Republican-controlled House approved a measure seeking to force Trump to wind down military operations against Tehran since the war began three months ago.

Democrats accuse Trump of violating the constitution by launching strikes on Iran alongside Israel in late February without congressional authorization.

Under the War Powers Act, presidents have 60 days to obtain congressional approval after introducing US forces into hostilities. That deadline passed weeks ago, and Democrats say Trump is now breaking the law.

“(Democrats) would rather have our Country fail than give me another, of many, victories,” Trump said.

“The four Republicans, that’s a whole other story — They’re GRANDSTANDERS! They should be ashamed of themselves.”

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US, Iran Exchange Fire As Negotiations Stall

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The United States and Iran said Monday they had again traded strikes, straining an already fragile ceasefire as negotiations between the two sides have stalled.

Weeks of complicated talks marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence have not managed to reach a deal to end the war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which is essential to oil supplies.

Washington and Tehran have sharp differences on questions like Iranian nuclear efforts and the fighting in Lebanon, which Iran has demanded must stop as part of a broader agreement.

The latest exchange of fire coincided with Israel expanding its offensive in Lebanon, with Prime Minister Netanyahu vowing to push deeper into the country.

This picture, taken from a position in northern Israel on the border with southern Lebanon, shows an Israeli soldier taking position on the balcony of a building on May 31, 2026.


The US military announced that it had carried out “self-defense strikes” on Iranian radar and drone control sites in the southern part of the country over the weekend — its third such wave in just over a week.

The strikes were in response to the downing of a US MQ-1 drone, it added.

Shortly after, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards said they targeted an “air base from which the attack originated” used by the US military, state broadcaster IRIB reported Monday, without specifying the location of the base.

The Guards’ announcement came on the heels of the Kuwaiti military saying its air defences intercepted “hostile missile and drone attacks”, without mentioning where attack originated.

Sticking Points
Iran was already in talks with the United States about the fate of its nuclear programme in February when the US and Israel launched air and missile strikes that wiped out much of the Islamic Republic’s senior leadership.

While Tehran has long insisted that its nuclear programme is for purely civilian ends, the United States and its Western allies suspect it aims to develop a weapon.

The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a “tougher” new framework to be considered by Iran, though details remain unclear.

Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from developing any nuclear weapons and reopening the Hormuz shipping lane, which Iran has blockaded since the war began.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, in an interview on her Fox News show.

Late Sunday, Trump stressed on Truth Social that the proposed deal “states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon”.

Tehran, however, has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions, and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Iran’s top negotiator Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a video broadcast on state television.

According to the Tasnim news agency, exchanges on the text “are ongoing, with both parties regularly proposing amendments”.

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Iran Rules Out US Deal Without Protection Of National Interests

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Iran’s chief negotiator said Sunday that Tehran would not agree to any deal with the United States unless it fully secures Iranian rights, as reports emerged that Washington had sent a tougher peace proposal back to Iran.

Any tweaks to the proposal could further delay an agreement to formally end the Middle East war and reopen the Strait of Hormuz after weeks of fraught negotiations marked by sharp rhetoric and occasional flare-ups of violence.

The New York Times and Axios reported on Saturday that Trump had sent back a new framework to be considered by Iran with “tougher” terms, though details remain unclear.

“We will not approve any agreement until we are certain that the rights of the Iranian people have been upheld,” Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said, in a video broadcast on state television.


Trump has said his priorities include stopping Iran from any nuclear weapon development and re-opening the blockaded Hormuz shipping lane.

“The one guarantee that I have to have is that there will be no nuclear weapons. They’ve agreed to that, and it was very interesting,” he told his daughter-in-law Lara Trump in an interview broadcast on her Fox News program on Saturday night.

But Tehran has previously cast doubt on Trump’s assertions and the sides remain far apart on key issues.

Iran has said it needs the release of $12 billion in frozen assets before engaging in substantive talks on its nuclear program, dismissing earlier Trump comments that its enriched uranium stockpile would be destroyed as “baseless”, according to Iranian media.

Tehran has also insisted that Lebanon be included in any deal, despite ongoing fighting, with Beirut accusing Israel of a “scorched-earth policy” as it expands operations against Iran-backed Hezbollah.


After previously signalling a deal was close, Trump struck a less urgent tone, hinting at renewed military action in the Fox interview.

“I’m in no hurry,” he said. “If we don’t get what we want, we’re going to end in a different way.”

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