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.
5,108 total articles
Since the onset of the Iran conflict, energy equities have diverged sharply. Companies tied to refining margins and liquefied natural gas exports have led gains, supported by higher oil and gas prices and shipping disruptions through the Strait of Hormuz. By contrast, several oilfield services and infrastructure-related firms have underperformed as…
Analysts at BCA Research say the market consequences of the Iran conflict are evolving from an early, concentrated shock into a more dispersed phase of ripple effects. What began as price moves in oil, refined fuels and natural gas tied to shipping risks through the Strait of Hormuz is spreading as logistical bottlenecks, filling storage and domest…
Donald Trump said in a Truth Social post that the United States would use force, if needed, against Iranian coastal targets to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and keep global shipping lanes accessible. He stated U.S. forces will continue striking Iranian boats and coastal positions to prevent threats to the waterway and warned Tehran could seek to disr…
Brazil’s finance minister Fernando Haddad estimates first-quarter GDP growth of roughly 0.8% to 1% quarter-on-quarter, attributing the pickup to government measures that have supported credit and domestic demand. He stressed that whether annual growth exceeds 2% will depend on the future course of interest rates, as oil-price volatility tied to the…
President Donald Trump pushed back on reports that U.S. refueling tankers were destroyed at a Saudi air base, posting on Truth Social that four of five aircraft sustained virtually no damage and are already back in service, while a fifth suffered limited damage and is expected to return to operation soon. His comments criticized media headlines and…
Morgan Stanley warns that risks around the Federal Reserve's policy path favor rate reductions arriving later than currently expected and possibly at greater magnitude. The bank expects elevated core PCE readings early in the year but anticipates a slowdown in inflation from the second quarter as tariff effects and seasonal distortions diminish.
Goldman Sachs says the S&P 500 could retreat to roughly 6,300 in a moderate growth shock tied to higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions related to the Iran conflict. The bank warns the shock could slow growth, keep inflation elevated and push back the timeline for Federal Reserve easing, though it still expects AI-related investment to underpi…
Bank of America reports that commodity trading advisors and trend-following strategies are reallocating exposure across major asset classes as higher oil prices and geopolitical tensions weigh on risk sentiment. Funds have been increasing long dollar and oil positions while reducing holdings in equities and U.S. Treasury futures as yields climb and…
A Jefferies report argues that artificial intelligence will produce distinct winners and losers within the business services sector. Waste management firms are positioned to benefit because their competitive moats rely on physical assets and dense operational data that AI can enhance but not replace. In contrast, traditional staffing businesses fac…
Japan and South Korea voiced serious concern over rapid declines in their currencies after annual talks in Tokyo, saying they will closely monitor foreign-exchange markets and are prepared to act to counter excessive volatility. The yen and won have weakened as safe-haven dollar demand linked to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran and rising oil costs pre…
Two liquefied petroleum gas tankers, the Shivalik and the Nanda Devi, have been permitted to cross the Strait of Hormuz and are headed to India after a reported diplomatic arrangement between New Delhi and Tehran. The shipments, chartered by Indian Oil Corp. (NS:IOC) and owned by Shipping Corp of India Ltd. (NS:SCI), offer immediate relief to a cou…
The S&P 500 slid about 2% this week amid heightened volatility tied to geopolitical risk, and Goldman Sachs warns that prolonged energy shocks pose a material downside to its 2026 earnings-per-share (EPS) growth projection of 12%. While modest oil moves tend to have limited direct impact on index earnings, a severe, sustained disruption could cut i…
A Bernstein analysis based on 50 hours of interviews with tech professionals finds that generative AI and large language models are altering job boundaries in software development but have not triggered widespread, systematic job losses. AI is accelerating productivity and shortening ramp-up times for junior engineers, while routine maintenance and…
President Lai Ching-te defended a proposed $40 billion special defence budget, arguing Taiwan's robust economic expansion - led by its semiconductor sector and AI demand - makes the spending affordable. The measure faces parliamentary resistance, and Taiwan has taken steps to secure arms contracts pending final approval. Lai emphasized using AI to …
BCA Research's Global Investment Strategy team has moved its short-term allocation to global equities from neutral to underweight after a sharp rise in oil and gas prices and a deteriorating geopolitical backdrop tied to the Iran war. The firm says higher near-term inflation and constrained central bank flexibility raise the odds of a global downtu…
U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Ecuadorian Minister Luis Alberto Jaramillo signed a finalized trade agreement that cuts tariffs on a range of industrial and agricultural goods, opens Ecuador's 18 million-consumer market to U.S. exporters of machinery, IT and chemicals, and creates a roadmap for investment in critical mineral projects. …
The Wall Street Journal reports the U.S. Treasury is due roughly $10 billion from the investor consortium that assumed control of TikTok’s American operations. The payment - described by President Trump as a "fee-plus" - was financed by backers including Oracle, Silver Lake and Abu Dhabi-based MGX, and is separate from capital invested to create th…
The U.S. Department of Commerce quietly removed a proposed rule intended to limit international shipments of advanced artificial intelligence chips, according to a government website post on Friday. The draft had been in interagency review since late February and was seen as a central element of the administration's approach to controlling the glob…
U.S. President Donald Trump announced that American forces have destroyed every identified Iranian military installation on Kharg Island while sparing oil export facilities for now, conditioned on unhindered commercial passage through the Strait of Hormuz. The strike compounds market volatility as tanker transits have plunged and emergency releases…
Court filings unsealed Friday reveal that lawyers for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told Justice Department officials in January that he might remain on the Fed's board of governors after his chairmanship ends in May, a precedent-breaking possibility raised during discussions tied to a DOJ criminal probe of renovations to the central bank's W…
The Federal Reserve Board engaged Robert Hur, a former special counsel who examined President Joe Biden's handling of classified documents, in its dispute with the Justice Department over subpoenas seeking records connected to Fed Chair Jerome Powell. A federal judge in Washington blocked the subpoenas, citing insufficient evidence of criminality a…
A federal judge in Rhode Island has reinstated a collective bargaining agreement that the Department of Veterans Affairs canceled in August after implementing President Donald Trump's 2025 executive order limiting federal bargaining rights. U.S. District Judge Melissa DuBose found no evidence the VA's national security rationale motivated the cance…
President Donald Trump's pick for Federal Reserve chair, Kevin Warsh, remains blocked as U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro appeals a federal judge's decision that quashed grand jury subpoenas in a criminal probe of Chair Jerome Powell. Republican senator Thom Tillis has refused to advance any Fed nominees while the investigation continues, tying Warsh's …
A federal judge has ordered that subpoenas issued by the Justice Department to Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell be blocked, concluding the government offered little evidence of criminal conduct and that the investigation appeared aimed at pressuring the Fed to lower interest rates or force Powell from office. Powell had publicly disclosed the pr…
President Donald Trump signed two executive orders on Friday aimed at lowering barriers to housing construction and loosening mortgage-related regulatory constraints. One order targets state and local permitting and other regulatory obstacles to homebuilding; the other seeks to reduce mortgage-related regulatory burdens to help community banks exte…
