LONDON (Reuters) -Stocks slipped on Friday as U.S. President Donald Trump got his signature tax cut bill over the line and attention turned to his July 9 deadline for countries to secure trade deals with the world’s biggest economy.
The dollar also fell against major currencies, with U.S. markets already shut for the holiday-shortened week, as traders considered the impact of Trump’s sweeping spending bill that is expected to add an estimated $3.4 trillion to the national debt.
The pan-European STOXX 600 index fell 0.5%, with banks, mining-related stocks and retailers among the top laggards.
U.S. S&P 500 futures edged down 0.6%, following a 0.8% overnight advance for the cash index to an all-time closing peak. Wall Street was closed on Friday for the Independence Day holiday.
Trump said Washington would start sending letters to countries on Friday specifying what tariff rates they would face on exports to the United States, a clear shift from earlier pledges to strike scores of individual deals before a July 9 deadline when tariffs could rise sharply.
Investors are “now just waiting for July 9”, said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market’s lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea.
At the same time, investors cheered a surprisingly robust U.S. jobs report on Thursday, sending all three of the main U.S. equity indexes climbing in a shortened session.
“The U.S. economy is holding together better than most people expected, which suggests to me that markets can easily continue to do better (from here),” Sycamore said.
Following Thursday’s close, the House narrowly approved Trump’s signature, 869-page bill, which averts the near-term prospect of a U.S. government default but adds trillions to the national debt to fuel spending on border security and the military.
TRADE THE KEY FOCUS IN ASIA
Trump said he expected “a couple” more trade agreements, after announcing a deal with Vietnam on Wednesday to add to framework agreements with China and Britain as the only successes so far.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said earlier this week that a deal with India was close. However, progress on agreements with Japan and South Korea, once touted by the White House as likely to be among the earliest to be announced, appears to have broken down.
The U.S. dollar index had its worst first half since 1973 as Trump’s chaotic roll-out of sweeping tariffs heightened concerns about the U.S. economy and the safety of Treasuries, but had rallied 0.4% on Thursday before retracing some of those gains on Friday.
As of 1430 GMT it was down 0.1% at 96.94.
The euro added 0.2% to $1.1778, while sterling held steady at $1.3662 as British assets steadied following investor fright over the last two days at a tearful appearance by Finance Minister Rachel Reeves in parliament on Wednesday.
The U.S. Treasury bond market was closed on Friday for the holiday, but 10-year yields rose 4.7 basis points (bps) to 4.34%, while the 2-year yield jumped 9.3 bps to 3.882%.
Gold firmed 0.4% to $3,336 per ounce, on track for a weekly gain as investors again sought refuge in safe-haven assets due to concerns over the U.S.’s fiscal position and tariffs.
Brent crude futures fell 57 cents to $68.23 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dropped 66 cents to $66.34, as Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation.
(Reporting by Lawrence White in London and Kevin Buckland in Tokyo; Editing by Stephen Coates, Kim Coghill, Alexandra Hudson, Joe Bavier and Alex Richardson)
KARACHI – Pakistani rupee has recorded slight changes against various foreign currencies in open market as the buying and selling prices of Euro, Saudi Riyal and UK Pound witnessed slight changes.
On July 4, US Dollar’s buying rate stood at Rs285.1, while selling rate hovered at Rs286.5 after slight changes, according to forex.pk
Euro’s (EUR) buying rate stood at Rs336 and the selling rate at Rs338.6 while UK Pound buying rates settled at Rs391.5 and selling Rs394.5.
Several currencies, including the Australian Dollar (AUD), Canadian Dollar (CAD), Chinese Yuan (CNY), Danish Krone (DKK), Japanese Yen (JPY), Kuwaiti Dinar (KWD), Malaysian Ringgit (MYR), New Zealand Dollar (NZD), and Swiss Franc (CHF), showed no change in their rates compared to the previous update.
Ministers are closely watching a court case in which Vodafone is alleged to have “unjustly enriched” itself at the expense of franchise operators, and have raised the prospect of a regulatory crackdown on the sector.
The small business minister, Gareth Thomas, has said he will “track very carefully” a £120m legal claim brought against Vodafone last year by a group of 62 of about 150 franchise operators.
They allege that drastic cuts to commission rates on selling Vodafone products in the group’s high street stores caused many of them to run up huge personal debts. They say they fear for their livelihoods or homes, and some have reported suicidal thoughts.
Their court filing claims the company “indiscriminately … operated to enrich Vodafone at the expense of its franchisees”.
Thomas told MPs on Wednesday: “There are without question some very serious allegations being levelled at Vodafone in this case.
“Until now there has not been sustained concern about the quality or effectiveness of the self-regulation of franchises in general. However, I recognise that this particular case has raised concerns across the House and I will track very carefully what happens in this case and the final outcome and conclusions that any court case might come to.”
Thomas was speaking in parliament during an adjournment debate secured by the the former Conservative minister John Hayes. He told MPs: “Franchising can be used as a method to exaggerate the power of the business at the heart of the franchise and to weaken the position of franchisees. My assertion is that is common and is particular in the case of Vodafone.”
Luke Akehurst, the Labour MP for North Durham, said: “There are major corporates that treat their franchisees very badly, that sign them up on one set of terms – one rate card – and then change the goalposts.
“And then when people dissent and complain about that, they find that their franchise is withdrawn and they lose their investment when they have put a great deal into that corporate giant. I think this is a matter that, in the near future, is going to require some ministerial attention.”
Talks to settle the franchisees’ legal claim against Vodafone ended without resolution in May, leaving the case potentially heading for the high court.
Vodafone was approached for comment. It has previously said: “This is a complex commercial dispute between Vodafone UK and some franchise partners and as we have said from the beginning, we refute the claims.”
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The company has also apologised “unreservedly to anyone whose experiences while operating their business has impacted [their health] in this way” , adding: “Where issues have been raised, we have sought to rectify these and we believe we have treated our franchisees fairly.”
Vodafone has just completed a deal to merge its UK operation with rival Three to create Britain’s biggest mobile phone operator.
Vodafone’s chief executive, Margherita Della Valle, said in May that the merger would involve job cuts where the two businesses had a duplication of functions and roles, although overall it would create jobs as it embarked on an €11bn (£9.5bn) upgrade and expansion of its 5G network over the next decade.
The Directorate of Customs Valuation, Lahore, has established new customs export values for eight grades of Baryte, with prices ranging from US$80 to US$295 per metric ton (PMT). The updated values were outlined in Valuation Ruling No. 1 of 2025.
Baryte, also known as barite, is a mineral composed of barium sulfate. It has various industrial uses, including as a weighting agent in drilling mud for oil and gas exploration.
The customs valuation was determined under the powers granted by Section 25A of the Customs Act, 1969. The revision followed an application from Bolan Mining Enterprises (BME), which sought a review of the existing valuation ruling (No. 3/2024).
BME argued that the previous ruling only applied to Baryte with a specific gravity (SG) of 4.2, while other grades, also exportable, required distinct valuation.
In response, the Directorate initiated an evaluation process to determine the correct customs values for all grades of Baryte. This included three meetings with stakeholders to discuss the issue. During these sessions, stakeholders presented proposals, which were examined alongside market data, export trends, and documents submitted by BME.
The ruling reflects a comprehensive review of export data, international market trends, and stakeholder submissions to establish appropriate export values for the various grades of Baryte.
Linklaters acted as bookrunners’ counsel on the successful completion of placing of new shares for Innovent Biologics, Inc. (Innovent Biologics) and placing of existing shares and top-up subscription of new shares for Keymed Biosciences Inc. (Keymed Biosciences) on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEX), raising approximately HK$4.31bn and HK$864m, respectively.
Innovent Biologics is a leading biopharmaceutical company with pioneering innovations in the fields of oncology, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, autoimmune diseases and ophthalmology which have since been able to treat some of the most intractable diseases. The net proceeds from the transaction will primarily be used for the global R&D and arrangement of clinical and preclinical programmes, as well as for building the global infrastructure and facilities. This transaction marks one of the largest new share placements in the healthcare sector in Hong Kong SAR over the past four years.
Keymed Biosciences is a comprehensive biopharmaceutical company focussing on the independent research, development, and manufacturing of innovative drugs. The company successfully completed the placement of existing shares and top-up subscription of new shares under the general mandate, aiming to support the company’s financial strength, market competitiveness, and to promote the long-term health and sustainable development of the company.
The Linklaters team was led by corporate partner Donnelly Chan and capital markets partner Lipton Li, with support from counsel Christian Felton and Gary Tsang.
Linklaters has a track record of advising clients in the healthcare sector. The firm’s clients are many of the world’s leading players, ranging from pharmaceutical, biotech, and medical equipment manufacturing organisations, through to healthcare services groups, banks, private equity houses and sovereign wealth funds.
