Macroeconomic data, trends, and policy developments.
Coverage of key economic indicators, central bank policy decisions, inflation trends, labor data, and growth signals. This category focuses on the macroeconomic forces that shape markets, interest rates, and long-term capital allocation.
6,527 total articles
Easter sales on confectionery, home improvement products and apparel helped push annual shop price inflation down to 1.0% in April from 1.2% in March, the British Retail Consortium said. Food inflation moderated to 3.1% from 3.4%, as retailers competed for weaker consumer spending. Industry surveys show a sharp drop in sales volumes and warnings th…
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said the Senate-passed Department of Homeland Security funding measure will be revised before a House vote, potentially delaying funds for several DHS components. The Senate had twice approved the bill unanimously but excluded Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Border Patrol, prompting hardline House Republica…
Oil prices climbed again amid no sign that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen soon, yet U.S. equities eked out gains with the S&P 500 and Nasdaq reaching fresh highs. Markets are positioned for a busy week of corporate results and central bank decisions. Broader concerns about fiscal discipline in a world prioritizing energy, military and resource se…
The Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep its short-term policy rate at 0.75% at the end of a two-day meeting, while softening hawkish language to preserve room for further hikes if inflationary pressures from the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran intensify. Markets will scrutinize the bank's quarterly outlook and Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks for guid…
Republican lawmakers in Congress are advancing legislation to fund and hasten construction of a new White House ballroom that President Trump is building on the site of the demolished East Wing. The effort, billed as a security upgrade after a shooting at an event where Mr. Trump had been scheduled to speak, would finance the 90,000-square-foot pro…
China's state economic planner has directed parties to withdraw a December 29 acquisition of AI startup Manus, effectively ordering Meta Platforms to reverse a $2 billion deal after the firm shifted operations to Singapore. The directive highlights the difficulty of separating people, code and capital once integration has occurred, and sends a sign…
A monthly YouGov survey conducted for U.S. bank Citi showed that British consumers pared back both short-term and long-term inflation expectations in April. The year-ahead expectation dropped to 5.0% from 5.4% in March, while the longer-run expectation eased to 4.2% from 4.5%. Citi/YouGov characterises the March jump as anomalous and says the April…
Two law firms representing Annie Altman in her civil suit accusing OpenAI CEO Sam Altman of sexual abuse have filed to withdraw, citing a breakdown in the attorney-client relationship and other professional considerations. The move requires court approval and comes as Sam Altman denies the allegations and pursues a defamation counterclaim.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the shooting at the White House Correspondents Association dinner as the third major attempt on President Donald Trump’s life. The president spoke with the Secret Service agent wounded in the incident, and White House officials said security measures performed as intended. The administratio…
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Monday that the United States will not accept a situation in which Iran controls passage through the Strait of Hormuz, responding to reports that Tehran proposed conditions for reopening the waterway after negotiations between the two countries collapsed over the weekend. Rubio argued that Iran cannot be allowed …
Gabe Plotkin is preparing to move a portion of his personal investments into a newly proposed exchange-traded fund, using a 351 conversion that can defer taxes. Insiders say Plotkin will supply most of the initial securities for the fund, which was first filed in December. Details remain private and were provided by people who asked not to be ident…
A recent poll finds Gulf Cooperation Council economies facing their steepest slowdown since the pandemic as a regional conflict disrupts energy markets, damages infrastructure and constrains shipments through the Strait of Hormuz. Economists have sharply cut 2026 growth forecasts for several Gulf states, while forecasting a possible rebound in 2027…
Short positions against U.S. life insurers have more than doubled over the past year to exceed $5 billion, driven in part by investor concern about insurers' growing allocations to private credit and limited transparency around related holdings. Analysts and market participants warn about structural vulnerabilities in the private credit market and …
Germany's Finance Ministry said it is prepared to consider temporarily lifting the country's constitutionally enshrined debt brake as an emergency measure if disruptions tied to the war in Iran materially affect the economy. Chancellor Friedrich Merz and his conservative coalition have rejected the option, but the Finance Ministry, led by Lars Klin…
Across advanced economies, public debt has climbed to levels not seen in decades outside the pandemic window, even as growth has held up. But escalating military budgets, renewed industrial policy, resource nationalism and the need to secure supply chains and critical technologies make a credible roll-back of deficits increasingly improbable, say g…
Citigroup plans to expand its investment banking footprint across Japan and China through selective senior hires aimed at strengthening sector coverage and boosting cross-border M&A capabilities. The move follows the bank's global restructuring and comes as Asia deal activity remains robust in key markets while some energy-sensitive emerging market…
Shipping data show about seven vessels, predominantly dry bulk carriers, passed through the Strait of Hormuz in the last 24 hours amid stalled diplomatic talks between Iran and the United States. The movements, including departures from Iraqi ports and one ship from Iran, are a small fraction of pre-conflict traffic. Separately, recent U.S. actions…
Two months after the conflict in Iran began, emerging and developing economies are displaying mounting economic stress. Disrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, surging energy prices and renewed inflationary pressure are forcing some central banks to tighten policy, widening fiscal gaps and threatening fiscally fragile countries, according …
A BTG Pactual/Nexus survey released Monday finds President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro effectively tied in a simulated runoff for this year’s presidential election, with Lula at 46% and Flavio at 45%. In first-round scenarios Lula led with 41% while Flavio ranged between 36% and 38% depending on other entrants. The poll o…
A new BTG Pactual/Nexus poll finds President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Senator Flavio Bolsonaro statistically tied in a simulated second-round contest for this year’s presidential race, with first-round scenarios also showing a close race. The survey of 2,028 respondents conducted April 24-26 reports Lula at 46% and Flavio at 45% in a head-to-h…
Invesco's Asia Pacific head of fixed income portfolio management views the three- to seven-year segment of India's government bond curve as attractive, arguing that recent sell-offs and rate-hike concerns driven by geopolitical tensions and higher crude prices could be excessive. The firm highlights the importance of inflation pass-through, crude o…
Moody's has revised China's sovereign outlook from "negative" to "stable", citing resilient economic and fiscal fundamentals that should limit near-term downside despite domestic strains and external headwinds. The agency expects export growth to slow but says China's competitiveness and policy emphasis on high-productivity sectors will temper a sh…
Economists anticipate the Bank of Canada will keep its policy rate at 2.25% as a recent rise in crude-driven gasoline prices linked to the Iran war is judged a short-lived disturbance unlikely to alter inflation expectations permanently. Officials and analysts say any policy response would depend on whether higher prices feed into sustained consume…
Federal Reserve officials are widely expected to vote to keep the federal funds target at 3.50%-3.75% at their meeting this week, a session that may be Jerome Powell's final one as chair. Elevated energy prices following the Iran war, disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and the recent DOJ decision to drop a probe into Powell's offic…
DeepSeek has introduced a promotional pricing plan that reduces charges for its newly launched DeepSeek-V4-Pro model by roughly 75%, lowering both input and output fees for developers until May 5, 2026. The Hangzhou-based AI lab also cut input cache-hit fees across its platform family to one-tenth of prior levels, a move the company says will benef…
