Oil steadies as investors assess Iran-Israel ceasefire, demand outlook
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Diverging Reports Breakdown
Bumble to lay off 30% of global workforce
Dating application Bumble (BMBL.O) said on Wednesday it will lay off about 240 roles or 30% of its global staff. The company expects to save about $40 million of annual cost savings. Bumble also raised its second-quarter revenue forecast to a range of $244 million to $249 million.
June 25 (Reuters) – Dating application Bumble (BMBL.O) , opens new tab said on Wednesday it will lay off about 240 roles or 30% of its global staff.
Shares of the company rose 12% in premarket trading following the announcement.
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Bumble said it will incur non-recurring charges of about $13 million to $18 million for employee severance, benefits and related charges, primarily in the third and fourth quarters of 2025.
The company expects to save about $40 million of annual cost savings, which it plans to reinvest in initiatives such as product and technology development.
The company also raised its second-quarter revenue forecast to a range of $244 million to $249 million, up from the prior view of $235 million to $243 million.
Reporting by Kritika Lamba in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Shreya Biswas
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US stock futures steady as Middle East tensions cool; Powell in focus
U.S. stock futures were flat on Wednesday, as a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding. The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record high on Tuesday and all three major indexes gained more than 1%. The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) was less than 1% below its all-time peak. Investors will look for any hints on the central bank’s monetary policy path at 10:00 a.m. ET. The Commerce Department’s final take on first-quarter GDP is due on Thursday, while Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report will help investors ascertain the economic effects of Trump’s tariffs. U.S.-listed shares of cybersecurity firm Blackberry jumped 9% after the company raised its annual revenue forecast citing steady demand amid growing online crimes.
Summary
Companies Futures: Dow down 0.09%, S&P 500 up 0.02%, Nasdaq up 0.18%
FedEx shares slide after downbeat Q1 profit forecast
General Mills slips on downbeat annual profit outlook
June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. stock futures were flat on Wednesday, as a ceasefire between Israel and Iran appeared to be holding and investors awaited more comments from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
The Nasdaq 100 closed at a record high on Tuesday and all three major indexes gained more than 1% as the de-escalation in Middle East hostilities supported risk sentiment. The benchmark S&P 500 index (.SPX) , opens new tab was less than 1% below its all-time peak.
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Despite isolated violations of the ceasefire brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump a day earlier, investors remained optimistic that the truce between the two warring nations would last.
“So a lot of our major concerns, at least for right now, shifted into neutral as compared to being headwinds … that puts this in a place where we’ll take a wait-and-see attitude,” said Art Hogan, chief market strategist at B Riley Wealth.
“We’ve heard what Jerome Powell said at Capitol Hill and will likely repeat that today. We get the sense that the Israel and Iran situation is going to de-escalate from here.”
In the second day of Powell’s congressional testimony, scheduled at 10:00 a.m. ET, investors will look for any hints on the central bank’s monetary policy path.
This comes a day after Powell emphasized the Fed’s wait-and-watch approach to interest rates as tariff-led price pressures kick in. However, he also said a lower-than-expected inflation reading or weakness in the labor market would push the central bank to cut sooner.
Meanwhile, a surprise deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence on Tuesday kept the door open for an immediate rate cut in July.
Money market moves show traders are pricing in about 60 basis points of rate cuts by the end of 2025, with a 70% chance of a 25-bps rate cut in September, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool.
At 07:06 a.m. ET, Dow E-minis were down 37 points, or 0.09%, and S&P 500 stock futures were up 0.02%. Nasdaq 100 E-minis were up 41 points, or 0.18%.
Investors were also watching developments from a meeting of NATO leaders, as European allies gathered to pledge a big increase in defense spending at a short summit tailor-made for Trump.
Trump, who reiterated his commitment to the alliance, has often threatened not to protect NATO members if they fail to meet spending targets.
The Commerce Department’s final take on first-quarter GDP is due on Thursday, while Friday’s Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) report will help investors ascertain the economic effects of Trump’s tariffs that have kept global markets on edge since the start of the year.
General Mills (GIS.N) , opens new tab shares dipped 1.8% after the packaged food maker forecast annual profit below expectations.
U.S.-listed shares of cybersecurity firm Blackberry jumped 9% after the company raised its annual revenue forecast citing steady demand amid growing online crimes.
Reporting by Kanchana Chakravarty in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath
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Greece arrests Georgian suspected of fuelling Chios fire with cigarette
Blazes broke out on Chios in the Aegean Sea on Sunday and tore through 10,000 acres of mainly bush and pasture land in three days. The fire brigade said in a statement that the woman was arrested on Tuesday night and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the fires. At Europe’s southernmost tip, Greece is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers. Authorities say the fast-changing climate is fuelling more destructive blazes.
Item 1 of 2 Firefighters try to tackle a wildfire burning on Chios island, Greece, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Konstantinos Anagnostou
ATHENS, June 25 (Reuters) – Greece has arrested a Georgian woman suspected of discarding a cigarette that helped trigger one of several wildfires razing land and threatening homes on the island of Chios.
Blazes broke out on Chios in the Aegean Sea on Sunday and tore through 10,000 acres of mainly bush and pasture land in three days, Greece’s climate crisis and civil protection ministry said on Wednesday.
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The fire brigade said in a statement that the woman was arrested on Tuesday night and that authorities were still investigating the cause of the fires.
The Georgian was charged with unintentional arson, two fire brigade officials told Reuters on condition anonymity. Witnesses saw her drop a cigarette, one of the officials said.
Though the wildfires were largely contained by Wednesday, hundreds of firefighters remained on Chios to prevent rekindling and bring all fronts under control, the Greek fire brigade said.
At Europe’s southernmost tip, Greece is often hit by wildfires during its hot and dry summers, but authorities say the fast-changing climate is fuelling more destructive blazes.
The Greek government has paid hundreds of millions of euros in damages related to extreme weather to households and farmers and to update firefighting equipment.
It has upped firefighter numbers to a record 18,000 this year in anticipation of a challenging fire season. They will be assisted by 294 firefighters from five European countries from July 1 to Sept. 15.
Reporting by Yannis Souliotis and Renee Maltezou; Writing by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne
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Investors returned to US long-term bond funds in May
U.S. long-term bond funds attracted $7.4 billion in May, their largest monthly inflow in over two years. Investors sought the safety of higher-yielding debt, as they weighed uncertainties around trade tariffs, inflation and fiscal deficits. Analysts said those concerns have eased as trade talks progress, rekindling appetite for long- term bonds. Short-term Bond funds saw $5.8 billion in outflows after strong inflows the previous month, while intermediate- term bond Funds attracted $4.2 billion.
June 25 (Reuters) – U.S. long-term bond funds drew massive inflows in May, reversing April’s drawdown and indicating investors sought the safety of higher-yielding debt, as they weighed a host of uncertainties around trade tariffs, inflation and fiscal deficits.
According to Morningstar data, U.S. long-term bond funds attracted $7.4 billion in May, their largest monthly inflow in over two years, after facing sharp outflows in April.
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Shows U.S. government bond fund flows by tenors
Jeana Doubell, fixed income analyst at Morningstar, said inflows into long-term bond funds in May reflect investor expectations of weaker growth and a view that bonds offered better value than other riskier assets.
U.S. long-term bonds were sold off heavily in April on concerns that U.S. tariff measures could fuel inflation, while expectations that President Donald Trump’s tax bill could inflate the deficit and Treasury supply added to the pressure.
However, analysts said those concerns have eased as trade talks progress, rekindling appetite for long-term bonds.
Shows U.S. Treasury yields in 2025 by tenors
“Long-bond prices are susceptible to inflation, and recent data shows very little inflation above the Fed’s 2% target,” said Chris Gunster, head of fixed income at Fidelis Capital Partners. “As long as inflation is less of a concern, then long-dated Treasuries should reassert themselves as a hedge against equities and other risk asset declines.”
“The smart investors should already be locking in longer-term rates,” he said.
The Morningstar data showed short-term bond funds saw $5.8 billion in outflows after strong inflows the previous month, while intermediate-term bond funds attracted $4.2 billion.
iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF led with inflows of $4.3 billion, while iShares 10-20 Year Treasury Bond ETF and iShares 7-10 Year Treasury Bond ETF received $1.2 billion and $625 million, respectively.
Reporting By Patturaja Murugaboopathy; Editing by Vidya Ranganathan and Vijay Kishore
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NATO’s Rutte compares Trump to a ‘daddy’ after president’s profane comments
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte likened President Donald Trump to a “daddy” intervening in a schoolyard brawl. Trump had compared fighting between Iran and Israel to children quarrelling. Trump said the countries had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing” Trump also compared the impact of U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites to the end of World War Two.
THE HAGUE, June 25 (Reuters) – NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Wednesday likened President Donald Trump to a “daddy” intervening in a schoolyard brawl after the U.S. leader used profanity when describing the war between Israel and Iran.
In comments to the press during a NATO summit in The Hague , Trump had compared fighting between Iran and Israel to children quarrelling.
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“They’ve had a big fight, like two kids in a schoolyard. You know, they fight like hell, you can’t stop them. Let them fight for about 2-3 minutes, then it’s easy to stop them.”
Rutte laughed and added: “And then daddy has to sometimes use strong language to get (them to) stop.”
On Tuesday, following a ceasefire deal between Iran and Israel, Trump said the countries had been fighting “so long and so hard that they don’t know what the fuck they’re doing.”
NATO did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump also compared on Wednesday the impact of U.S. bombing of Iran’s nuclear sites to the end of World War Two, when the United States bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
“I don’t want to use an example of Hiroshima, I don’t want to use an example of Nagasaki, but that was essentially the same thing. That ended that war. This ended the war,” Trump said.
Reporting by Anthony Deutsch and Gram Slattery; Additional reporting by Andrew Gray; Editing by Aidan Lewis
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