Money

Gold hit a fresh record yesterday on growing optimism the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates in the new year, with traders shrugging off boss Jerome Powell's attempts to temper expectations.

A diver who spotted something metallic not far from Sardinia's coast has led to the discovery of tens of thousands of ancient bronze coins.

Italy's culture ministry said Saturday that the diver alerted authorities, who sent divers assigned to an art protection squad along with others from the ministry's undersea archaeology department.

Markets are expecting Greece to regain investment grade soon after Sunday's general election, provided that a strong government comes out of the process. When Greek bonds emerge from the "junk status" they have been at for more than 12 years, they will not be the only ones to benefit.

The planning of the Single Social Security Entity (EFKA) for the next few months provides for the closure of tens of thousands of pending issues.

Retroactive refunds to tens of thousands of insured persons, the cancellation of debts that have not been sought for 10 years, as well as "rebates" for payment of contributions are to be dealt with by this fall.

The Public Debt Management Agency announced on Friday that on Wednesday it will auction 26-week treasury bills in book entry form with maturity on December 29.

The settlement date is Friday, June 30.

Hellenic Bank, Cyprus' second-largest lender, has reported a profit of 69.7 million euros for the first quarter of 2023, signaling a strong start to the year.

Greece is heading into an election weekend with its public debt trading near the levels enjoyed by first-class peripheral countries, a decade after a debt crisis forced a dramatic reshaping of its borrowing.

Japan's consumer prices rose 3.2 percent year-on-year in May, slowing from 3.4 percent in April, government data showed on June 23.

The figure, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, beat market expectations and was higher than the 3.1 percent recorded in March.

Two in every three borrowers who reached the penultimate step before the final submission of their application to join the mortgage installment subsidy program have canceled it on their own initiative, as a result of which the number of beneficiaries is only 4,527 to date.

China's Central Bank yesterday cut two benchmark interest rates, following several similar measures in recent days in a bid to counter the post-COVID growth slowdown in the world's second-largest economy.

Last week, the People's Bank of China (PBoC) lowered two other key rates and pumped billions into financial markets, as fresh data showed the economy continued to struggle.