globaleconomicnews

Fitch Ratings has lowered its global economic growth outlook while raising its oil price forecast, warning that the oil shock from the conflict between the US and Iran is causing widespread damage to the global economy.
Now the agency expects global economic growth to hit 2.4% this year, trimming the previous estimate by 0.2 percentage points. "Forecasts have been revised down across the board as inflation growth is squeezing real wages, stifling consumption, and ramping up costs for companies," says the report from Fitch economists.

The Canadian dollar rose against the US dollar on Wednesday as oil prices jumped sharply and investors raised their expectations for an interest rate hike by the Bank of Canada this year.
The loonie was up 0.2% at $1.4170 per US dollar, or 70.57 US cents, after trading in a range from $1.4156 to $1.4210.

The U.S. Energy Information Administration said on Wednesday that exports of American crude oil and petroleum products reached a record high in April amid increased demand for U.S. supplies, driven by disruption of energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz due to the war with Iran.

Gold prices stabilized during Asian trading on Wednesday as markets digested new military actions between the United States and Iran, while investors focused on the Federal Reserve System’s June meeting protocols.
The precious metal’s quotes stabilized after a sharp drop in the previous session: renewed tensions in the Middle East triggered a sharp rise in oil prices and heightened concerns about persistent inflation fueled by energy commodities.

Saudi Aramco cut prices on all grades of oil, according to a July 6 price list. The discount on the flagship Arab Light grade for Asian buyers amounted to $11 per barrel and was the highest since June 2020, when Saudi Arabia was conducting a price war with Russia, Financial Times notes. It was also the largest month-on-month decline in official selling prices at least since 2000, Bloomberg writes.

The largest branding change in Russian gold mining was formalized on July 7: PJSC “South Ural Gold Mining Company Group of Companies” has officially been renamed to “BTS-Gold” Group of Companies after Ruslan Baysarov’s structure acquired a controlling stake at a government auction for 93.2 billion rubles—almost half the starting price of 162.02 billion rubles.

Indonesia officially offered Russian companies to invest in the construction of smelting and processing plants on its territory, promising in return guaranteed supplies of nickel ore. This was stated by Indonesia’s Minister of Industry Agus Gumiwang Kartasasmita at the Innoprom-2026 exhibition in Yekaterinburg on July 7.

Wholesale prices for natural gas in Europe rose sharply on Tuesday: an approaching summer heat wave heightened concerns about increased demand from the power sector amid unexpected technical work on infrastructure in Norway.
The benchmark Dutch contract with the nearest delivery date rose by 4.7% to 46.54 per megawatt-hour, recouping losses after a sluggish session on Monday.

At least 16 tankers carrying 28 million barrels of crude oil from the Persian Gulf are expected in Europe in July and August, according to ship-tracking data compiled by Bloomberg.
The fleet includes 12 very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and four Suezmax-class tankers transporting oil from several Gulf countries. According to Vortexa, Iraq accounts for 16 million barrels of the total volume, while the UAE supplies 8 million barrels. Kuwait and Oman provide 2 million barrels each.

A member of the ECB’s Governing Council, Fabio Panetta, warned on Monday that Europe’s central banks could face intensifying pressure from governments forced to cover rising costs for pension provision and industrial support.

On Monday, South Korea began round-the-clock trading of the won against the US dollar, which has become one of the largest currency market reforms in the country in decades. Seoul aims to improve market accessibility and strengthen its position for inclusion in the developed markets equity indices.
Expanded trading hours allow the domestic won/dollar market to operate nearly 24 hours a day, bringing it closer to the world’s largest currency markets and giving overseas investors the ability to trade currencies outside Asian trading hours.

Hong Kong’s Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) is preparing to loosen investment rules so that retirement schemes can increase their share of investments in gold exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The move is part of the government’s efforts to turn the city into a regional hub for trading precious metals, the South China Morning Post reported on Sunday, citing an informed source.

France is moving toward what could become the most significant budget showdown of Emmanuel Macron’s entire last presidential term. The government warns that failure of the budget bill could worsen the country’s fiscal problems and trigger renewed political instability, Bloomberg reports.

The Spanish stock market closed Friday’s trading higher due to strengthened sectors of construction, chemical and oil-producing companies, and consumer goods.
At the close on the Madrid Stock Exchange, IBEX 35 rose by 0.93%, reaching a record high.

Russian gas continues to flow into Europe despite increasing pressure: according to the think tank Bruegel, in January–June 2026 total supplies from Russia to EU countries amounted to 22.1 billion cubic meters, which allowed the country to maintain third place among the region’s largest gas exporters, behind only Norway (50.3 billion cubic meters) and the United States (43.9 billion cubic meters).

Futures on Canada’s main stock index rose on Thursday, supported by firmer gold prices, although low liquidity is expected ahead of the long U.S. holiday weekend.
As of 13:37, the standard futures contract on the S&P/TSX 60 index was up by 5 points, or 0.2%.

Tokenization can reconfigure the architecture of the global financial system, but without common standards it may increase market fragmentation and systemic risks. This was stated by an IMF financial adviser and the Director of the Monetary and Capital Markets Department, Tobias Adrian.
The material was released on July 2 and is based on an IMF report. It describes tokenization not as a specific technological improvement, but as a structural shift in financial infrastructure.

Euro zone short-term bond yields edged higher on Friday, stabilising after a sharp rise that pushed them to multi-month lows, as investors took a pause to digest the convergence of data pointing to cooling in the US and Europe economies along with a shift in the geopolitical backdrop.

On Thursday, the European Commission approved payment requests from several European countries under the NextGenerationEU programme. Spain received partial approval for its sixth payment request, for a total amount of €5.7 billion.
Portugal has received approval for its ninth payment request for €2.32 billion under the Recovery Fund. Belgium has also received approval for its fourth payment request for €567 million.

UBS confirmed ASML Holding as its top pick among European manufacturers of technology equipment ahead of the release of its second-quarter results, citing sustained demand driven by the development of artificial intelligence, which extended the semiconductor market cycle beyond initial expectations.