The Latest News and Information That Matters To You
MADRID – China wants to deal with the European Union as a partner instead of a rival, its ambassador to Spain said, amid shifting geopolitics and Washington’s new trade policy which he described as unilateral economic abuse. Yao Jing told…
European shares slipped on Wednesday after a strong start to the week, as concerns over corporate profits deepened following news that Nvidia would shoulder billions in charges due to U.S. export curbs to China. Adding to tech woes, ASML, the…
BEIJING – China’s economy is expected to have slowed in the first quarter in the face of a prolonged property downturn, as policymakers brace for the impact of hefty U.S. tariffs that analysts say pose the biggest risk to the…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in an interview with Yahoo Finance on Tuesday dismissed concerns over China weaponizing its Treasuries despite bond market volatility and added there was no risk of China potentially using its robust Treasury pile to inflict…
HOUSTON – Oil prices rose more than $1 a barrel on Wednesday on concerns about global supplies after Washington issued new sanctions targeting Chinese importers of Iranian oil. Brent crude futures rose $1.06, or 1.64%, to $65.73 a barrel by…
BEIJING – Property investment in China fell 9.9% in the first three months of 2025 from a year earlier, after dropping 9.8% in the January-February period, official data showed on Wednesday. Property sales by floor area were down 3.0% in…
SHANGHAI -Global investment banks are lowering their projections for China’s economic growth this year as U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs are expected to take a toll on the world’s second-largest economy. Some of the banks had upgraded their forecasts…
BEIJING – China’s industrial output in March rose 7.7% from a year earlier, quickening from 5.9% growth in the January-February period, official data showed on Wednesday, as the world’s second-largest economy braced for the impact of hefty U.S. trade tariffs….
BEIJING – China’s crude steel output in March climbed 4.6% from the prior year, incentivised by higher margins and robust exports. The world’s largest steel producer manufactured 92.84 million metric tons of crude steel last month, data from the National…
FRANKFURT – The euro zone’s current account surplus narrowed in February as a higher services surplus was not big enough to offset a rise in goods imports, European Central Bank data showed on Wednesday. The currency bloc’s seasonally adjusted balance…
BEIJING -China’s new home prices were unchanged in March from the prior month, as demand continued to remain soft despite the government’s extensive policy support to boost confidence in the fragile property sector. The flat outcome in March was a…
WASHINGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump is open to making a trade deal with China but Beijing should make the first move, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said on Tuesday, citing a statement from the president earlier in the…
NEW YORK -U.S. stocks ended slightly lower on Tuesday as tariff uncertainty stayed high and shares of consumer and healthcare companies eased, while upbeat results from banks provided some support. Shares of Bank of America and Citigroup rose following their…
BRASILIA – Brazil’s government raised the individual income tax exemption threshold to the equivalent of two minimum wages, updating a benefit that was in place last year to reflect this year’s increase in the minimum wage. The measure was signed…
MEXICO CITY – Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said on Monday that she had instructed Finance Minister Edgar Amador to speak with banks so they can lower interest rates for both commercial and development loans. Sheinbaum said that banks should follow…
LONDON – Britain’s biggest companies adopted their most defensive stance since early 2020 in the run-up U.S. President Donald Trump’s April 2 tariff announcements and focused on boosting cashflow, cutting costs and reducing borrowing, a survey showed on Monday. Deloitte’s…
LONDON – Asking prices for housing on sale in Britain this month are 1.3% higher than a year earlier, despite the end of a tax break, pushing the average price above a previous record set in May 2024, property website…
LONDON – Britain said on Sunday it will expand financing support for exporters by 20 billion pounds ($26 billion), including those affected by U.S. tariffs, in an effort to give them stability and certainty in what it described as a…
LONDON – British finance minister Rachel Reeves wrote in a column for the Observer due to be published on Sunday that she wants to achieve “an ambitious new relationship” with the European Union while still negotiating a trade deal with…
ROME -Credit ratings agency S&P Global upgraded Italy on Friday in a surprise move just days after Rome halved its economic growth forecast amid global market turmoil and said its huge public debt would rise this year and next. S&P…
Bank of England interest rate-setter Megan Greene said on Saturday it was unclear what U.S. President Donald Trump’s import tariffs would do to UK inflation with the unpredictable behaviour of the dollar adding to the puzzle. Higher barriers to trade…
In December 1958, Argentina, battling inflation and weak reserves, agreed a $75-million loan with the International Monetary Fund, its first deal with the Washington-based lender in a record 23 programs totalling $177 billion in agreed funds. On Friday, Argentina got…
BUENOS AIRES -Argentina’s central bank has announced a major overhaul to the country’s exchange rate policy, unleashing the peso and dismantling its years-long controls on the currency as the country reached a $20 billion IMF deal. The central bank announced…
WASHINGTON -U.S. consumer sentiment deteriorated sharply in April and 12-month inflation expectations surged to the highest level since 1981 amid unease over escalating trade tensions. The University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers on Friday said its Consumer Sentiment Index dropped…
NEW YORK/LONDON -The dollar weakened against major currencies on Friday as the back-and-forth over import tariffs shook investor confidence in the greenback as a safe haven, sending it to its lowest level in a decade against the Swiss franc and…
LIMA -Newly implemented U.S. tariffs will have a moderate impact on Peru’s economy, the chief economist of the Andean nation’s central bank said on Friday. Peru, a major exporter of metals and agricultural commodities to the United States, now faces…
NEW YORK -U.S. Treasury yields were higher on Friday, with 10-year yields on track for their biggest weekly increase in decades as the global trade war raged on, while the U.S. dollar fell to its lowest in a decade against…
WASHINGTON -Soaring consumer inflation expectations, driven to a level not seen since the early 1980s, coupled with jittery markets and rising U.S. Treasury yields on Friday amplified the Federal Reserve’s dilemma in determining whether the economy is facing a new…
St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem said on Friday he’s closely watching whether a rise in short-term inflation expectations seeps into longer-term expectations, a development that could make fighting inflation a much harder job and reduce the U.S. central…
LONDON -Britain’s economy grew at a monthly pace of 0.5% in February, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed on Friday, well above economists’ expectations in a Reuters poll for an expansion of 0.1%. Gross domestic product in February…