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.

Oil giants ExxonMobil and Chevron increased their profits by several times last quarter thanks to high oil prices due to the war in the Middle East. Due to limited opportunities to produce, refine, and export oil and oil products in the Persian Gulf, American companies are using their capacity to the fullest. But their windfall profits are bringing them closer to a confrontation with Donald Trump, who is demanding lower fuel prices.

Consumer inflation in the euro area accelerated slightly year-on-year in July, in line with analysts’ forecasts, amid renewed fighting in the Middle East, which caused fluctuations in oil prices.
According to data from Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union, the consumer price index rose by 2.9% year-on-year this month, compared with 2.8% in June.

China’s vice premier He Lifeng said he is concerned about US trade restrictions on China during a video call on Thursday with US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamie Greer, Xinhua reported.
He Lifeng is China’s chief representative on China-US economic and trade issues. The discussion focused on implementing the understandings reached by the leaders of the two countries during their meeting in Beijing, Xinhua reports.

Consumer inflation in Japan’s capital accelerated in July: core prices moved close to the Bank of Japan’s target level amid high energy prices and rising import costs due to a weak yen.
The basic consumer price index (CPI), excluding volatile prices of fresh food, rose by 1.9% year-on-year in July, according to government data published on Friday. The figure was slightly above the forecast of 1.8% and accelerated from the 1.6% recorded in June.

American companies imported fertilizers worth $1.04 billion from Russia in January—May 2026—an all-time high since statistics began in 2003, TASS reports, citing data from the U.S. customs service. This is 28% more than in the same period of 2025, when the shipment volume was $806.4 million.

India's Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said on Sunday that the government does not intend to revise the parameters of the federal budget despite difficulties related to irregular monsoon rainfall and rising global oil prices.
The finance minister noted that the government has provided sufficient reserves to counter possible economic shocks. Sitharaman pointed out that inflationary pressure is driven by both external factors and the unpredictable nature of monsoons.

The Monetary Authority of Singapore unexpectedly tightened monetary policy for the second meeting in a row on Monday, citing persisting inflation risks despite a recent slowdown in price growth, and reaffirmed its confidence in the economy’s resilience.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) said it will slightly increase the pace of appreciation of the nominal effective exchange rate of the Singapore dollar (S$NEER) within its policy band, while leaving both the band width and its mid-point unchanged. The move was smaller than the tightening carried out in April.

The Saudi stock market closed trading on Sunday down, amid negative momentum from the retail trade, agriculture, and electricity sectors.
At the time of the close on the Saudi Stock Exchange, the Tadawul All Share fell by 0.34%.
Leading gainers among the components of the Tadawul All Share index by the end of today’s trading were shares of Tabuk Agriculture Development Co (TADAWUL:6040), which rose by 0.67 points (9.96%), closing at 7.40. The quotes of United Carton Industries Company (TADAWUL:1323) increased by 1.60 points (6.46%), ending the session at 26.38. Shares of Al Masane Al Kobra Mining Company CJSC (TADAWUL:1322) were up by 3.05 points (4.30%), closing at 74.05.

Australia’s prime minister, Anthony Albani, said he intends to personally raise the issue of the new American tariff of 12.5% on Australian goods in a conversation with U.S. President Donald Trump, Reuters reports.
«We will raise this issue at all levels of Australia–U.S. relations,» Albani said on Sunday, adding that Australian officials have already lodged a protest against the introduced measure.

The Chinese economy will likely lose momentum over the next six to nine months: weak demand for credit, a protracted real estate market crisis, and slowing exports will outweigh an acceleration in budget spending, analysts at BCA Research believe.
Economic activity slowed sharply in the second quarter amid weakening investment and domestic demand. It is expected that at the Politburo meeting at the end of July, the authorities will speed up the implementation of measures that have already been approved, rather than announce large-scale economic stimulus.

U.S. President Donald Trump threatened new tariffs on European goods in response to European Union fines imposed on American companies, including, for example, a €890 million ($1 billion) sanction that the EU this week imposed on Alphabet’s Google, among others.
Details
“The European Union is at it again, and as usual, it has targeted GREAT American companies!” — Trump wrote on July 24 on Truth Social. In the post, he mentioned a $15 billion fine that EU authorities issued to Apple — “for no reason whatsoever,” he said — a $3 billion fine for Meta and a $2.5 billion penalty for Amazon. “We have just been informed that Google, — a leading and wonderful group, — has been fined another $1 billion without any explanation,” Trump added, emphasizing that “the total amount of fines for Google [in the EU] exceeds $18 billion” in this way. He called such a situation “an illegal and highly discriminatory practice” toward American companies.

Apple and Micron Technology are putting pressure on the Trump administration, pushing for opposing decisions on the issue of using Chinese memory chips. The president will have to choose between lowering consumer prices and the goal of expanding domestic semiconductor production, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Europe’s economy is approaching a critical point: renewed energy inflation, a slowdown in manufacturing activity, and limited budgetary support increase the risk of a technical recession, analysts at BCA Research say.
Outlook remains uncertain. One scenario assumes two consecutive quarters of economic contraction, however a number of resilience factors could keep growth in slightly positive territory.

Gold imports into China rose to a two-year high in June, highlighting steady demand in the world’s largest precious-metals market after an international price slump. Bloomberg reports this.
Overseas purchases increased for the third month in a row, reaching about 173 tonnes, according to the latest customs data. This is the highest figure since March 2024. Lower prices and a stronger yuan supported investors’ interest, while banks sought to secure import quotas and replenish precious-metals stocks to meet obligations to retail clients.

Gold prices edged down slightly on Friday, but the metal is still moving toward the end of a two-week streak of losses: an escalation of tensions in the Middle East is supporting quotes despite rising expectations that the Federal Reserve may keep interest rates high for longer.

Canada’s Prime Minister Mark Carney said on Thursday that Canada is considering all possible options for retaliatory measures if the negotiations do not make it possible to prevent the threat of introducing 50% U.S. tariffs by 19.08.
«Everything is possible if an agreement is not reached—everything depends on the outcome of the negotiations,» Carney said to journalists in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island.

Malaysia issued two-tranche Islamic bonds totaling $1.5 billion, for the first time in more than three years entering the international dollar market.
The debt securities were issued through Malaysia Sovereign Sukuk Berhad, with the Malaysian government acting as the obligor. The offering structure includes a $850 million tranche with a 5¾-year tenor and a $650 million tranche with a 10-year tenor, according to the placement terms.

Papers from the largest U.S. technology companies of the “Magnificent Seven” are close to the largest one-day decline in more than a year. According to Bloomberg estimates, during the selloff on July 23 they together already lost around $767 billion in market value. U.S. markets plunged on Thursday under pressure from sharply devalued shares of Tesla and Alphabet from the Mag7. The day before, both companies published quarterly results that, as Bloomberg writes, cast doubt on the durability of the AI trend—exactly this trend has been driving the stock market forward over the past three years.

Wholesale natural gas prices in Europe on Wednesday hovered near multi-month highs, as renewed sea attacks in the Middle East boosted geopolitical risk premiums in energy markets and raised fresh concerns about fuel supplies to Europe for the winter.