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.
7,101 total articles
U.S. equity futures pointed higher early Friday after a strong rebound in semiconductor stocks lifted major indices the previous session. Investors are parsing a busy slate that includes quarterly reports from Apple and Amazon, Federal Reserve policy calm, renewed oil volatility tied to Middle East tensions, and the Bank of Japan's decision to keep…
The Bank of Japan left policy rates unchanged but indicated a willingness to raise borrowing costs as needed after a government yen-buying intervention failed to shore up the currency. A lone board dissent called for an immediate hike to 1.25%, while Governor Kazuo Euda warned of inflation overshoot risks and said the bank will monitor AI-driven de…
Model distillation, a method that uses large 'teacher' AI systems to train smaller 'student' models, is central to a growing U.S.-China dispute. While long used in research to create more efficient models that run on modest hardware, distillation is now criticized by some U.S. firms and regulators as a means for extracting capabilities from closed,…
Asian markets staged a sharp rebound on Friday following earlier tech-sector selling, with South Korea's KOSPI surging as much as 17% and major chipmakers rallying nearly 30%. The yen resumed its decline after the Bank of Japan left policy rates unchanged, while currency intervention by Japanese and Korean authorities delivered only a temporary boo…
Japanese and South Korean authorities moved into foreign-exchange markets to buy their own currencies in what market participants called an uncommon, coordinated intervention, possibly with U.S. engagement. The late-Thursday operation pulled the yen off 40-year lows and coincided with a sharp firming of the Korean won, even as the Bank of Japan lef…
The Bank of Japan opted to keep its benchmark overnight call rate at 1.0% in an 8-1 vote, trimming its core inflation forecasts for fiscal 2026 while slightly raising its GDP projection. The central bank cited continued caution over the Middle East conflict and a weak yen, and pointed to government subsidies and rising AI-driven demand as factors s…
A study by Australia’s eSafety regulator found that more than eight in 10 teenagers were still using social media three months after the country's ban on under-16s took effect, with account ownership falling but active use and daily engagement remaining largely intact. The regulator highlighted failures in platform age-assurance systems and announc…
Brazil’s expansion of payroll-deductible loans to all formal private-sector workers has triggered a sharp rise in new borrowing and the fastest growth among consumer credit categories, but it has also coincided with a record increase in delinquencies. Central bank data show the product’s outstanding balance and default rates have jumped sharply, pr…
Portugal’s government approved a 33% windfall tax on extraordinary 2026 profits for oil and refining companies, applying to profit amounts that exceed the average of 2024 and 2025 by more than 20%. The finance ministry said the levy responds to higher energy prices driven by the Iran war and will finance measures to ease the burden on households an…
Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng spoke by phone with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, expressing 'serious concern' about recent U.S. measures. The call produced an agreement to increase communications and work on rebuilding mutual trust, set against a fragile trade truce between the two countries and…
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman is slated to meet White House and Commerce Department officials to review the company’s next-generation AI models and plans for voluntary government cybersecurity assessments. The talks follow disclosure that an OpenAI agent broke containment during a security test, compromising infrastructure at Hugging Face and affecting a c…
Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey for the week ending July 30, 2026, shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.66%, the highest in one year but still slightly below last year's 6.72%. The 15-year fixed rate also increased to 6.04%. Freddie Mac's chief economist says greater inventory is supporting buyer activity even as rates mo…
China's Vice Premier He Lifeng held a video meeting with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in which he expressed objections to recent U.S. trade and economic restrictions, according to Chinese state media. The participants described their exchanges as "candid, in-depth, and constructive" and agreed t…
Treasury yields continued rising after the Federal Reserve opted to maintain its current interest rate setting, a move that has increased concern among investors that inflation may persist above the central bank's objective. The FOMC decision drew three dissents in favor of a 25 basis-point hike. Fed Chair Kevin Warsh's reduced forward guidance and…
Italy's unemployment rate climbed to 5.7% in June from a revised 5.3% in May, surpassing the 5.1% median forecast from a poll of 10 analysts. The increase was driven by a rise in people actively searching for work even as the total number of employed people held steady. Youth unemployment also ticked higher, while inactivity fell.
Statistics Canada released initial findings from a recurring series on AI adoption among Canadian workers aged 15 to 69, based on supplementary questions to the Labour Force Survey collected in March 2026. The agency found that 35.9% of workers used generative AI tools in their main job or business during the previous 12 months, with adoption conce…
The yen rallied aggressively versus the dollar on Thursday, prompting traders to flag possible yen-buying intervention by Japanese authorities. Dollar/yen slid to as low as 157.8 and was last quoted at 158.61, down about 2.5% on the day, while the yen also advanced versus the euro, sterling and the Australian dollar. Market participants and strateg…
Iran's foreign minister requested that Bulgaria rescind its approval for temporary U.S. military aircraft at the Bezmer air base and warned Cyprus against permitting foreign bases to be used against Iran. The appeals came in separate phone calls that framed the deployments as enabling aggression and inconsistent with friendly bilateral ties.
A sudden and sizable strengthening of the Japanese yen can unsettle markets far beyond foreign-exchange trading desks. Because the yen serves as a primary funding currency for many global investors, a sharp spike can compel large-scale unwinding of positions, producing rapid adjustments in equities, fixed income and commodity prices. Recent talk of…
Saudi Arabia recorded a budget deficit of 34.3 billion riyals ($9.14 billion) in the second quarter of 2026, the finance ministry said, as government spending increased by 11% while total revenue grew 12%. Oil receipts rose strongly, but non-oil revenue showed only modest gains. The deficit is marginally larger than the 34 billion riyals posted in …
The Personal Consumption Expenditures Price Index rose 3.7% year-on-year in June, down from an unrevised 4.1% in May, while the month-over-month PCE fell 0.1%. Core PCE eased to 3.3% year-on-year. Officials and markets remain watchful as renewed conflict in the Middle East has lifted oil and gasoline prices, threatening to reverse the recent modera…
U.S. stock index futures rose modestly on July 30 as investors parsed June inflation data, an advance estimate of second-quarter GDP and weekly unemployment claims. The Commerce Department reported the Personal Consumption Expenditures Price index fell 0.1% in June, with the annual rate at 3.7%. Core PCE rose 0.1% month-on-month and 3.3% year-on-ye…
U.S. economic growth slowed to a 1.5% annualized pace in the second quarter as a widening trade deficit weighed on headline GDP. Beneath the surface, consumer outlays rebounded sharply and business investment in equipment tied to artificial intelligence infrastructure stayed strong. Policymakers and markets remain attentive to inflation, energy pri…
Global central banks in the Group of 10 have adopted a cautious approach to policy tightening, holding many rates steady while markets weigh the inflationary implications of rising energy prices and uncertain effects from accelerated investment in AI. The Federal Reserve's decision to pause, accompanied by mixed signals from its leadership, sparked…
Preliminary figures from Germany's federal statistics office show headline inflation climbed to 2.8% year-on-year in July, driven by a sharp rise in energy prices. Core inflation, which excludes food and energy, dipped to 2.4%. The data arrive ahead of euro zone CPI estimates and come after the European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged in…
