2025-07-01 10:58

France shuts more schools due to heatwave Part of Eiffel Tower is also shut Mediterranean Sea temperatures at record highs Turkey fights wildfires after 50,000 evacuated Heat spurs health alerts, raises risk of field fires PARIS/MADRID/ROME, July 1 (Reuters) - Italy limited work outdoors, France shut schools and Turkey battled wildfires on Tuesday in a European heatwave that meteorologists said was "exceptional" for striking so early this year. Spain confirmed its hottest June on record, while temperatures passed 40 degrees Celsius (104°F) in some of its cities on Tuesday. Likewise, heat scaled to reach 40 degrees in the Italian city of Trento, while northern European cities such as London were also sweltering. Sign up here. Europe is heating up at twice the global average speed and is the world's fastest-warming continent, the European Union's Copernicus Climate Change Service has said. "What is exceptional ... but not unprecedented is the time of year," said World Meteorological Organization spokesperson Clare Nullis. Europe was experiencing extreme heat episodes "which normally we would see later on in the summer," she said. Some countries issued health alerts and trade unions attributed the death of a construction worker near the Italian city of Bologna on Monday to the heat. Outdoor work was banned in some Italian regions during the hottest hours of the day as Italy issued heatwave red alerts for 17 cities, including Milan and Rome. Power outages, likely caused or aggravated by spiking electricity consumption from air conditioners, were reported in central Florence and in the northern city of Bergamo. In Sicily, a woman with a heart condition died while walking in the city of Bagheria, news agencies reported. In the Spanish city of Barcelona, authorities were looking into whether the death of a street sweeper at the weekend was heat-related. The Red Cross set up an air-conditioned "climate refuge" for residents in Malaga in southern Spain, said a spokesperson for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. Turkey continued to battle the wildfires that forced the temporary evacuation of around 50,000 people on Monday in areas surrounding the city of Izmir and in the nearby province of Manisa, as well as Hatay in the southeast. In France, nearly 1,900 schools were closed, up from around 200 on Monday. The heat was set to peak in France on Tuesday at 40-41 C in some areas, weather forecaster Meteo France said. RECORD TEMPERATURES Scientists say greenhouse gas emissions from burning fossil fuels are a cause of climate change, with deforestation and industrial practices being other contributing factors. Last year was the planet's hottest on record. "We keep hearing about climate change. I think we're definitely feeling it now," said Omar Bah, a rental company worker said in London, where temperatures hit 32 C. The Mediterranean Sea hit a record 30 C off Spain, six degrees above the seasonal average, Spanish weather forecaster AEMET said, as a high pressure system trapped hot air above Europe - a phenomenon known as a heat dome. Nullis said higher temperatures in the Mediterranean Sea tend to reinforce extreme temperatures over land areas. The average temperature in Spain was 23.6 C last month, weather agency AEMET said. Copernicus said June probably ranks among the five warmest on record, Copernicus said. England had its hottest June since at least 1884, the Met Office national weather service said, citing provisional data. A Paris-Milan rail service was disrupted because of a mudslide on the French side of the Alps, with full service not expected to be fully restored until mid-July, French rail operator SNCF said. The top floor of the Eiffel Tower was closed, disappointing scores of visitors. "I tried to get all organised before our departure and the result is nonsense," said Laia Pons, 42, a teacher from Barcelona who booked Eiffel tickets for her family three years ago. When temperatures rise, the puddled iron used to build the Eiffel Tower expands in size and tilts slightly, with no impact on its structural integrity, according to its website. The scorching temperatures have raised the risk of field fires as farmers in France, the European Union's biggest grain producer, start harvesting this year's crop, with many working through the night to avoid peak afternoon temperatures. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/climate-energy/france-shuts-schools-heatwave-grips-europe-sea-off-spain-record-high-2025-07-01/

2025-07-01 10:54

BARCELONA, July 1 (Reuters) - Spanish authorities are investigating whether a street sweeper's death over the weekend in Barcelona was caused by an intense heatwave gripping the country and region, the city council said late on Monday. The woman, who had been cleaning the old town in Barcelona on Saturday afternoon, died later that day at home, her sister told the Antena 3 TV station. Sign up here. Her sister said the 51-year-old woman, identified just as Montserrat, had told a colleague she thought she "was dying." Temperatures reached 30.4 degrees Celsius (86.7 degrees Fahrenheit) in Barcelona on Saturday, weather agency AEMET said. Extreme heat can kill by causing heat stroke, or aggravating cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, with older people being among the most vulnerable. The City council said on Monday it would investigate the woman's death. Last year, there were 2,032 deaths attributable to heat in Spain, according to the Health Ministry. That number was still lower than heat-linked fatalities in 2023 and 2022. The first heatwave of the summer hit Spain during the weekend and is set to last until Tuesday. https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/barcelona-investigates-street-sweepers-death-spain-swelters-heatwave-2025-07-01/

2025-07-01 10:26

July 1 (Reuters) - The opinions expressed here are those of Dhara Ranasinghe, Editor, Financial Markets, EMEA. All eyes remain focused on Washington, with Senate Republicans still locked in a marathon session, known as "vote-a-rama", as they try to pass a contentious tax cut and spending bill that could add trillions of dollars to the country’s already high debt load. Sign up here. This hasn’t helped the dollar, which is languishing at its lowest levels against the euro in almost four years, as the fiscal bill keeps debt worries front and center for global investors. Mike Dolan is enjoying some well-deserved time off over the next two weeks, but the Reuters markets team is here to provide you with all the information you need to start your day. Today's Market Minute * U.S. Senate Republicans were still trying to pass President Donald Trump's sweeping tax-cut and spending bill early on Tuesday morning, despite divisions within the party about its expected $3.3 trillion hit to the nation's debt pile. * President Trump suggested on Tuesday that the government efficiency department should take a look at the subsidies that Tesla (TSLA.O), opens new tab CEO Elon Musk's companies have received in order to save money. * President Trump expressed frustration with U.S.-Japan trade negotiations on Monday as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that countries could be notified of sharply higher tariffs as a July 9 deadline approaches despite good-faith negotiations. * There has been much discussion of the so-called "Trump put" for equities, but perhaps more attention should be paid to the administration's effective "Treasury Put", claims Stephen Jen, CEO and co-CIO of Eurizon SLJ asset management. * U.S. power sector emissions are already at their highest levels in three years, writes ROI columnist Gavin Maguire, but they are likely to climb even higher in the coming months. Vote-a-rama is still going on Senators are voting in a marathon session featuring a series of amendments by Republicans and the minority Democrats, part of the arcane process Republicans are using to bypass Senate rules that normally require 60 of the chamber's 100 members to agree on legislation. It is unclear how long the voting, which started on Monday, will last. What's interesting is how financial markets are reacting to developments on the Hill. As mentioned above, the latest signs of U.S. policy uncertainty and concern about ever-rising deficits are weighing on the dollar . Now look at bond markets, which have been notably quiet in the face of fiscal worries. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released its assessment on Sunday of the bill's hit to the $36.2 trillion U.S. debt pile. The Senate version is estimated to cost $3.3 trillion, $800 billion more than the version passed last month in the House of Representatives. So, where have the so-called bond vigilantes gone? One explanation is that attention, for now, has returned to inflation and growing expectations that Federal Reserve interest rate cuts will come sooner rather than later. And on that point, U.S. President Donald Trump on Monday continued to pressure Fed chief Jerome Powell to cut rates. Goldman Sachs reckons the Fed will deliver three rate cuts this year. With markets pricing in roughly two quarter-point rate cuts by year-end, bond investors, it appears, are happy with U.S. 10-year yields at around 4.2% - the lowest in around two months. The other point for bond markets, with regards to the bill, is that even if it is passed by Trump's July 4 deadline, a debt ceiling increase in the bill does not become an issue until later in the summer. Generally upbeat sentiment in stock markets meanwhile - note the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record closing highs on Monday - could be put to the test by signs that efforts to secure trade deals may be stalling. Trump expressed frustration with U.S.-Japan trade negotiations on Monday, as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warned that countries could be notified of sharply higher tariffs as a July 9 deadline approaches despite good-faith negotiations. Chart of the Day The U.S. dollar index, which measures its value against a basket of other major currencies, is down almost 11% so far this year. In fact, the dollar has suffered its biggest first-half dive since the early 1970s. While the currency is expected to remain the world's No.1. reserve currency for some time to come given the size of the U.S. economy and the unrivalled depth of its capital markets, sentiment towards the dollar has taken a hit this year against a backdrop of concern about erratic U.S. policy making, trade tensions and worries about Fed independence. Today's events to watch * ISM June data * JOLTS May job openings * Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell speaks at ECB forum * Constellation Brands earnings results https://www.reuters.com/world/china/global-markets-view-usa-2025-07-01/

2025-07-01 10:24

Kazaks says 10% tariffs, euro rise 'large enough' De Guindos sees $1.20 as threshold Simkus says any rate cut may wait until year-end SINTRA, Portugal, July 1 (Reuters) - Two European Central Bank policymakers warned on Tuesday about the hit from a further appreciation of the euro on a weak euro zone economy that is bracing for painful U.S. tariffs. The euro has risen some 9% against the dollar since April as investors, spooked by U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable economic policy, warmed up to the European Union's newfound military and industrial ambitions. Sign up here. But a strong currency is a mixed blessing for the central bank because it makes exports more expensive and imports cheaper, pushing down both growth and inflation. "If there is a 10% tariff plus a 10%-plus appreciation of the exchange rate, this is large enough to affect export dynamics," Latvian central bank governor Martins Kazaks told Reuters at the ECB's annual Forum on Central Banking in Sintra, Portugal. EU officials have resigned themselves to a 10% tariff on goods exported to the United States as their baseline as they continue difficult negotiations with Trump's administration ahead of a July 9 deadline. The euro was trading at $1.18 on Tuesday, up 14% since the start of the year but still roughly in the middle of the range in which it has been for the past decade or so. ECB vice-president Luis de Guindos said the central bank could ignore the euro's rise against the dollar up to $1.20 but not higher. "Beyond that, it will be much more complicated," de Guindos told Bloomberg TV. Euro zone manufacturing is only starting to recover from its 2022-24 - partly energy-related - slump, with new orders arresting a three-year slide last month. Both Kazaks and de Guindos said the economy was weak but seemed to play down the prospect of more support from the ECB via interest rate cuts. "The majority of the rate adjustment has been done," Kazaks said. "If there are further cuts, they will be small and have signalling value, provided that we remain in the baseline." De Guindos said an additional cut was "not going to help the economy", which instead needed certainty on trade and other policies. The ECB has cut rates eight times in the space of a year as inflation eased to its 2% target, where it expects it to stay for the foreseeable future except for a short-lived dip in 2026. It has signalled it will pause its rate-cutting streak in July and Lithuanian governor Gediminas Simkus said the central bank may keep rates on hold for longer. "I don't know if we'll have all the information we need by September, but I remain open to every possibility," Simkus said in an interview in Sintra on Monday. "I believe a move, if any, is more likely towards the end of the year." Euro zone inflation came in at 2% in June, a flash reading showed on Tuesday, and consumers - who were stung by a cost of living crisis in 2022-23 - are also paring back their expectations for future price growth, according to an ECB survey. https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/ecbs-kazaks-sets-10-pain-threshold-tariffs-euro-2025-07-01/

2025-07-01 10:11

MUMBAI, July 1 (Reuters) - The Indian rupee strengthened on Tuesday, alongside most Asian peers, as worries over U.S. President Donald Trump's fiscal policies and uncertainty around trade deals kept the dollar pinned at a more than three-year low against major peers. The rupee closed at 85.52 per U.S. dollar, up about 0.3% on the day. Sign up here. While the rupee strengthened on the day, it was unable to hold onto gains above the 85.50 mark, with traders pointing to bids from a large state-run bank and a few local private banks. The currency is likely to stay rangebound in the near term unless it convincingly breaches either 85.45-85.50 on the upside or 86 on the downside, a trader at a private bank said. Asian currencies were mostly up between 0.1% and 0.4%, while the dollar index declined 0.3% to 96.37, its lowest level since February 2022. Worries about U.S. fiscal policies, uncertainty over trade deals ahead of a looming deadline and concerns over the future independence of the Federal Reserve have all hurt the dollar this year. The dollar index is nursing losses of 11% on the year so far. "The dented safe-haven status of the U.S. amid demanding asset price valuations portends a redistribution of global portfolio flows across various regions. Asia can both drive and benefit from this redistribution," ANZ said in a Tuesday note. While countries with sizeable external investment surpluses, such as Taiwan and South Korea, will lead the diversification from U.S. assets, potential inflows will also extend more broadly to economies like India and Indonesia, the note added. With investors also ramping up wagers on faster rate cuts by the Fed this year, the focus will turn to U.S. economic data due later in the day. Remarks from Fed Chair Jerome Powell will also be in the spotlight for cues on the future path of policy rates. https://www.reuters.com/world/india/rupee-gains-alongside-asian-peers-us-policy-worries-trouble-dollar-2025-07-01/

2025-07-01 09:52

BERN, July 1(Reuters) - The Swiss National Bank still has the tools to steer inflation towards its price stability goal even with interest rates at zero, extended governing board member Atillio Zanetti said on Tuesday. "It's not an obvious step to go into negative rates, but I wouldn't say that we don't want to do that if that's necessary," Zanetti told reporters. Sign up here. "So negative rates are an option but we are aware that the transmission of monetary policy with negative rates is different than in positive territory," he added. https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/snb-says-negative-interest-rates-remain-an-option-2025-07-01/