Asian Stocks Cautious Ahead of US Jobs Data as Oil Rises 
Trump Unveils $3 Billion U.S. Critical Minerals Push 
Asian Currencies Hold Steady as US Dollar Nears Seven-Week Low Ahead of Key Jobs Data 
US Stock Futures Hold Steady as Iran Hormuz Deal and Earnings Shape Market Sentiment 
Canada, US Hold Constructive Trade Talks as Tariff Negotiations Continue 
Gold Price Hits Seven-Week High as Fed Rate Hike Bets Fade and Hormuz Deal Hopes Grow 
Asian Stocks Slide as Semiconductor Selloff Weighs on South Korea and Japan 
Philippine GDP Growth Slows to 2.3% in Q2 
The United Kingdom’s gilts remained tad higher during European trading hours Thursday despite a better-than-expected jump in the country’s retail sales for the month of June.
The yield on the benchmark 10-year gilts, slipped 1 basis point to 0.750 percent, the 30-year yield rose also suffered 1 basis point to 1.372 percent and the yield on the short-term 2-year also edged nearly 1 basis point down to 0.528 percent by 09:25GMT.
Britain’s monthly retail sales volumes jumped 1.0 percent, the Office for National Statistics said, well above all forecasts in a Reuters poll of economists that had pointed to a 0.3 percent drop. Compared with June 2018, sales were up by 3.8 percent, again stronger than all forecasts.
With Prime Minister-in-waiting Boris Johnson having over the past few weeks promised Conservative Party members lashings of budgetary largesse in terms of tax cuts and more public spending – while at the same time talking up the prospect of a highly damaging no-deal Brexit – the OBR’s Fiscal Risks report might also be worth watching today, Daiwa Capital Markets reported.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 100 remained tad -0.39 percent lower at 7,505.96 by 09:30GMT.
