Warsh Selection Eases Fed Uncertainty, Investors Eye Rates
NEW YORK/LONDON/SINGAPORE – The choice of Kevin Warsh to lead the U.S. Federal Reserve clears uncertainty on Wall Street about the central bank’s likely next chair, but leaves investors weighing how the former Fed governor’s past hawkish leanings will mesh…
Oil Rises on Iran Rhetoric and Kazakhstan Supply Outage
LONDON – Oil prices rebounded on Friday after U.S. President Donald Trump renewed threats against Iran, raising concerns of military action that could disrupt crude supplies while there are outages in Kazakhstan. Brent crude futures for March rose $1.68, or…
Dollar Dips as Greenland Worries Ease; Aussie Jumps
The U.S. dollar was lower on Thursday as the “sell America” trade faded after President Donald Trump dropped tariff threats and ruled out seizing Greenland by force, and was little changed by U.S. inflation data that was in line with…
Fed to cut rates slightly this year, CBO forecasts
The Federal Reserve will likely cut rates a little more this year to “address downside risks to the labor market,” the Congressional Budget Office forecast on Thursday, with higher tariffs and increased demand from the Trump administration’s tax cuts expected…
Tariffs may lower inflation, SF Fed research suggests
The sharp increase in tariffs imposed last year by the Trump administration may reduce inflation rather than increase it, according to research published Monday by the San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank, suggesting that interest-rate cuts may be the proper policy…
Tariff-hit firms may need business turnaround financing, Japan’s bank lobby chair says
TOKYO – Japanese banks may need to offer business turnaround support to companies hit by tariffs imposed by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, the head of the country’s banking lobby said. Many large Japanese firms, including major exporters…
Russian rouble seen weakening back to around 100 to the US dollar in a year: Reuters Poll
MOSCOW – The Russian rouble is seen weakening back to the level of around 100 to the U.S. dollar in one year from now, following a rally at the start of this year, a Reuters poll of 18 economists showed…
South Korea to draft $6.8 billion extra budget for wildfire, tariff threats
SEOUL – South Korea will soon submit a 10 trillion won ($6.8 billion) supplementary budget bill to parliament to respond to the fallout from the country’s worst-ever forest fires and counter slumping growth, the finance minister said on Sunday. Choi…
New Zealand central bank to review capital settings to boost competition among banks
WELLINGTON- New Zealand’s central bank said on Monday it would undertake an evidence-based review of its capital regime, assessing it against the settings in other countries in a bid to boost competition in the banking sector. “We have heard the…
UK firms stay upbeat, helped by retail rebound, Lloyds survey shows
British business confidence held steady this month, matching February’s six-month high and adding to tentative signs of an uptick in the economy in early 2025, a survey showed on Monday. The Lloyds Bank Business Barometer stayed at 49% in March,…
UK sees fastest job vacancy growth in 3 years, Adzuna says
LONDON – UK job vacancies saw the fastest month-on-month growth in three years in February, according to data published on Monday that contrasted with a largely gloomy outlook for the economy. Job search company Adzuna said the 3.7% increase from…
South Korea February factory output rises faster than expected
SEOUL – South Korea’s factory output rose in February, government data showed on Monday, beating market expectations. Industrial production rose 1.0% in February from a month earlier on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with a dip of 2.8% in January…
Australia’s Domain grants due diligence access to CoStar for $1.8 billion buyout bid
Australia’s Domain Holdings said on Monday it has granted CoStar exclusive due diligence access for the U.S. property data group’s revised buyout proposal which values the real estate classifieds firm at A$2.80 billion ($1.76 billion). CoStar sweetened its offer to…
Global equity funds saw strong weekly inflows on early optimism, but trade jitters resurface
Global equity funds attracted large inflows in the week through March 26 when equity markets initially rebounded on optimism that President Donald Trump’s administration would apply tariffs more selectively rather than impose broad trade restrictions. Investors purchased global equity funds…
China will resolutely respond to US reciprocal tariffs, state media says
BEIJING -China will take resolute countermeasures if the United States harm the country’s interests with its upcoming reciprocal tariffs, a social media account affiliated with Chinese state broadcaster CCTV said on Friday. If the U.S. wants to discuss cooperation with…
Canada’s GDP for January expands by 0.4% as tariff impact looms
OTTAWA -Canada’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 0.4% on a monthly basis in January as economic activity continued the momentum of the last few of months, data showed on Friday. Economists said part of the growth was helped by an…
U.S. equity funds see biggest weekly inflows since November
U.S. equity funds witnessed robust demand in the week through March 26 as signals of a more measured tariff approach from the Trump administration helped shift investor focus back to prospects of growth in corporate earnings. Investors acquired U.S. equity…
German unemployment rises amid economic slowdown
BERLIN -The number of people out of work in Germany rose in March at the fastest rate since October of 2024, data showed on Friday, as an economic malaise puts pressure on the job market even against a backdrop of…
Berlin on measures against U.S. tech giants: ‘Nothing is off the table’
BERLIN – A German government spokesperson said on Friday that “nothing is off the table” with regards to punitive measures in response to the threat of U.S. tariffs. Asked whether countermeasures could target U.S. tech companies, the spokesperson said “at…
Take Five: T is for tariffs
The coming week will be dominated by U.S. President Donald Trump’s plans for reciprocal tariffs, while the latest U.S. jobs data, an Australian central bank meeting and a key euro zone inflation report means there’s plenty for markets to consider….