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A monitor plays footage of US President Donald Trump announcing US and Israeli strikes against Iran in the James Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, DC, U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesBEIJING — Uncertainty is growing over U.S. President Donald Trump’s high-stakes trip to China after Washington targeted a second foreign leader in two months.Trump announced over the weekend that joint U.S.-Israel strikes on Iran killed its Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. In early January, the U.S. also captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and his wife from their residence.Analysts say…

Hong Kong is doubling down on its role as China’s financial bridge, signing a new agreement with Shanghai authorities to build cross-border blockchain rails for cargo trade and trade finance.The memorandum of understanding between the Hong Kong Monetary Authority, the Shanghai Data Bureau, and the National Technology Innovation Center for Blockchain, announced Monday afternoon in Hong Kong, formalizes plans to develop a shared digital platform linking trade data, electronic bills of lading, and financing systems.The MoU signals growing adoption of bitcoin in real-world plumbing, targeting $1.5 trillion in annual cargo finance where paper work and jams still cost a lot…

Plumes of smoke rise following reported explosions in Tehran on March 1, 2026, after Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, was killed a day earlier in a large U.S. and Israeli attack, prompting a new wave of retaliatory missile strikes from Iran. Mowj | Afp | Getty ImagesLONDON — European stocks opened the new trading week firmly in negative territory as global markets dropped after the U.S. and Israel launched widespread attacks on Iran at the weekend.The pan-European Stoxx 600 was down 1.8% shortly after 8:30 a.m. in London (3:00 a.m. ET), with all major bourses and sectors except for…

Spanish manufacturing stabilises in February but demand stays weak, PMI shows

Key findings:Business expectations reach highest since February 2022Comment:Commenting on the PMI data, Cyrus de la Rubia, Chief Economist at Hamburg Commercial Bank, said: “It finally looks like things are turning around for Germany’s manufacturing sector. For the first time in over three-and-a-half years, the headline PMI has climbed back above 50. That’s thanks to faster growth in output, a solid jump in new orders – helped a bit by stronger export demand – and longer delivery times, which usually signal rising demand. Most of the gains came from makers of intermediate and capital goods. For a sector that hasn’t had…

Cotton futures posted 25 point gains across the nearby contracts on Friday, with May down 2 points on the week. December was up 40 points this week. Crude oil futures were up $2.08 per barrel on the day at $67.29. The US dollar index was down $0.125 at $97.615.Commitment of Traders data from Friday afternoon showed a total of 14,140 contracts trimmed from the spec fund net short position as of Tuesday, taking it to 65,368 contracts. Don’t Miss a Day: From crude oil to coffee, sign up free for Barchart’s best-in-class commodity analysis.   Export Sales data from Thursday…

It is likely to be a busy and volatile week of trading, given rising geopolitical uncertainty, the Treasury’s unrelenting need to raise cash to finance the deficit, and a slew of economic data. Add in, for good measure, Broadcom (NASDAQ:) reporting results, which follow Nvidia’s (NASDAQ:) results last week. The only thing that seems certain is the level of uncertainty. Volatility was already elevated heading into Monday, and at least at the outset, it is likely to be even higher, with oil CFD markets showing the commodity up around 9% to roughly $73. Whether volatility remains elevated after the initial…

Hans Rempel examines how EU Chat Control and global policy trends are redefining online privacy and driving a shift toward decentralized communication architecture.By Hans Rempel, CEO of Diode.     Discover top fintech news and events! Subscribe to FinTech Weekly’s newsletter Read by executives at JP Morgan, Coinbase, Blackrock, Klarna and more   Across the world, governments are converging on a new theory of online safety: to make the internet safer, private communication must become inspectable.What’s changing now is not just how privacy is violated, but how it is defined in law and code. The EU’s Chat Control proposal is…

The dollar strengthened versus all its major peers as rising oil prices spurred swaps traders to dial back bets on Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts this year

Key eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featurePound stumbles as dollar soarsThe US dollar is strengthening this morning as investors seek out the safety of the US dollar.The dollar, which traditionally does well in times of crisis, has strengthened by 0.8% this morning.The pound is down 1%, or 1.3 cents, at $1.3346.But in the long run, the Iran attacks could spur the slow decline of the dollar’s global dominance…ShareEuropean gas prices surgeEuropean natural gas prices have surged today, as the US-Israel war on Iran sparks fears of a major disruption to global energy supplies.Benchmark futures climbed…