Codelco, clá, ropa a rozbiehajúca sa menová politika

WORLD

• Codelco increased profit despite an 11 percent decrease in copper production. Chile’s Codelco reported significantly higher profits in the first half of 2026 due to rising copper prices, even as production fell 11 percent due to issues at three mines.
• USA imposed 50-percent tariffs on 20 billion USD of Canadian goods, Canadians boycott American products. The Canadian boycott of American products, starting with the first Trump tariffs, has become a way of life — even after the USA imposed 50-percent tariffs on 20 billion USD of Canadian goods and Trump ordered renaming Lake Ontario to “Lake America”.
• Brent and WTI oil both fell, markets anticipate possible Fed tightening. Brent and WTI oil prices fell on Friday, August 28, 2026, and also recorded a loss for the entire week, contributing to expectations of possible Fed monetary policy tightening and speculation about the resumption of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
• Bessent: K-shaped economy is over, Atlanta Fed data contradicts him. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent claims low-income Americans are gaining strength and the economy is shifting from a K to a C shape, however, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and statements from Mark Zandi and other economists suggest the gap between high- and low-income groups persists.

EUROPE

• Franče: ECB likely to raise rates, Fed probably to wait in September. Uniqa analyst Václav Franče expects the ECB and Fed to move in opposite directions in monetary policy in September 2026; the yield on the US 30-year government bond reached 5.31 percent in August, its highest level in 19 years, and fell to 5.17 percent by August 25.
• Hungarian trade surplus fell to a two-year low in July. Hungary’s foreign trade surplus shrank to 69 million euros in July as imports grew faster than exports, falling short of economists’ estimates.
• Zurich and Geneva are the most expensive for apartment purchases in Europe. A new report from Deutsche Bank Research Institute ranks Zurich and Geneva ahead of London, Paris and Vienna as the most expensive European cities to buy an apartment in the center; across Europe, pressure on housing affordability is also growing.
• EC warns Slovakia of setbacks in Recovery Plan milestones. The European Commission, before the deadline of August 31, 2026, warned Slovakia that reversing already completed milestones of the Recovery Plan could lead to suspension or reduction of payments, while the European Commission assesses the last two requests worth 1.2 billion euros.
• Siemens CEO calls for faster approval of AI technologies and criticizes extensive tariffs on China. Roland Busch, in an interview with Welt am Sonntag, called on the EU to speed up the approval of AI technologies and reconsider tariffs on imports from China, rejecting concerns about an investment bubble around artificial intelligence.

Translated from the Slovak original and checked automatically: every figure must match the source, or this version is not published.