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
Recruitment firm Robert Walters narrowed its first-quarter decline in net fees, aided by a return to growth in Japan and early signs of increased candidate confidence in several markets. The company reported a 2% fall in net fees to 65.2 million pounds for the quarter ended March 31, after a prolonged spell of double-digit quarterly drops. Manageme…
Bank of America reported higher first-quarter profit as market volatility drove stronger trading volumes. Sales and trading revenue rose 13% to $6.4 billion, while net income increased to $8.6 billion, or $1.11 per share, from $7.4 billion, or 89 cents per share a year earlier. The gains came against a backdrop of shifting market sentiment that fav…
The Pentagon is deploying roughly 10,000 more personnel and significant naval assets to the Middle East to increase pressure on Iran while holding open diplomatic channels during a fragile two-week ceasefire that expires on April 22. The reinforcement includes the USS George H.W. Bush carrier strike group, the Boxer Amphibious Ready Group and the 1…
The U.S. dollar has relinquished the majority of the gains it posted after the Iran conflict prompted a rush into safe-haven assets. A fragile ceasefire has pushed investors back toward riskier currencies, yet sustained foreign purchases of U.S. assets, higher relative yields and reduced odds of Federal Reserve rate cuts leave many market participa…
The 12 regional Federal Reserve presidents - locally selected figures who provide regional perspective to U.S. monetary policy - are facing an unprecedented pressure test. A pending Supreme Court case over presidential removal powers, a contentious transition at the Fed’s top, and criticism and proposals from Treasury levels and others raise questi…
Records released under the Freedom of Information Act show the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency terminated the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Washington headquarters lease in February and agreed to transfer the property to the General Services Administration at no cost. The move cuts the lease short by at least six years and comes …
President Tayyip Erdogan says Turkey is actively working to extend a ceasefire between the United States and Iran, urging both sides to use the pause to resolve difficult issues and keep diplomatic engagement alive. He also warned that Israeli strikes in Lebanon are damaging prospects for broader regional peace.
UBS Chairman Colm Kelleher told shareholders at the bank's annual meeting in Basel that new Swiss government proposals on capital requirements risk undermining UBS’s business model. While reaffirming the bank’s commitment to keeping its headquarters in Switzerland and pursuing expansion in Asia and the United States, Kelleher said the bank must con…
At a PIMCO media briefing in London, group chief investment officer Daniel Ivascyn said the private credit market does not constitute a systemic risk to the broader financial system. While acknowledging weaker-than-expected returns and liquidity-driven stresses, he said such dynamics will likely prompt increased trading and present opportunities fo…
President Donald Trump indicated he may alter the trade agreement struck with the United Kingdom, citing disagreement with British domestic policy choices and dissatisfaction with London’s support in a dispute over the U.S. campaign against Iran. The comments follow a pact reached last year that reduced tariffs on key British exports and increased …
A real estate monitor report shows total UAE property transaction values fell 4% year-over-year in the six weeks following the onset of a conflict. The decline masks contrasting moves across market segments: secondary sales values plunged while off-plan values rose, and overall transaction volumes and values fell sharply in the first full week of A…
Japan will establish a roughly $10 billion financing framework to assist Asian countries in securing energy resources amid intensified competition for oil linked to the Middle East conflict. The support, routed mainly through state-backed institutions including the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and Nippon Export and Investment Insurance,…
U.S. equity futures were largely unchanged as investors monitored signs of resumed U.S.-Iran negotiations and digested an influx of corporate results. Optimism about a potential detente has helped keep oil prices below $100 a barrel despite a U.S.-imposed blockade of Iranian ports. Attention has also turned to more U.S. bank earnings after large le…
HSBC raised its rating on Hungary from neutral to overweight after the opposition Tisza party, led by Peter Magyar, achieved a parliamentary supermajority. With nearly all votes counted, Tisza won a clear share of the party list vote and is positioned to pursue constitutional changes and a closer alignment with the European Commission that could un…
Saudi Arabia will transfer $3 billion into Pakistan’s central bank, Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb said Wednesday. The infusion, announced while Aurangzeb is in Washington for World Bank and IMF meetings, accompanies a decision to extend an existing $5 billion Saudi deposit beyond its prior annual rollover arrangement. Pakistani authorities al…
BlackRock's hedge fund team is recommending that investors spread exposure across a range of hedge fund strategies as AI-related developments and geopolitical turmoil speed up market moves. The firm calls for greater transparency about what is producing returns, closer attention to overlapping positions and leverage, and stress testing of hedge fun…
China’s twice-yearly trade exposition opened in Guangzhou with over 32,000 exhibitors spread across a space larger than 200 football fields. The fair - staged in three phases from April 15 to May 5 - arrives after official data showed a sharp slowdown in exports in March, a development organisers and analysts say underscores risks tied to Beijing’s…
Global stocks pushed modestly higher as investors weighed comments from U.S. President Donald Trump that talks to end the Iran war could restart in Pakistan within days, even as Iran has not confirmed timing. The MSCI All-Country World Index extended a nine-day winning run, U.S. futures sat near the 7,000 level and Brent crude rose after the U.S. m…
Janet Yellen, former Federal Reserve chair and U.S. Treasury secretary, said a single interest rate reduction by the Federal Reserve remains possible this year, despite upward inflation pressures stemming from the conflict in the Middle East. Speaking at the HSBC Global Investment Summit in Hong Kong, she flagged higher short-term inflation expecta…
At a parliamentary confirmation hearing, Bank of Korea governor nominee Shin Hyun-song said the central bank must be prepared to tighten policy if supply-side shocks from the Middle East conflict drive persistent inflation. He stressed price stability as the priority, highlighted the upside risk to inflation from rising import costs, and cautioned …
Prosecutors from U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro's office conducted an unscheduled visit to the Federal Reserve's headquarters renovation project, speaking with construction workers before being told they needed prior clearance. The visit, confirmed by Pirro's office and first reported by The Wall Street Journal, occurs against the backdrop of an inten…
After a White House interview with Fox Business anchor Maria Bartiromo, President Donald Trump described the Iran conflict as 'very close to over.' The comments come amid a tenuous two-week ceasefire set to expire on April 21, U.S. efforts to resume talks, and a new U.S. naval blockade ordered to begin this week.
The U.S. dollar remained close to its weakest level in over six weeks as investor optimism rose on signs that the United States and Iran may resume talks. Hopes of diplomacy eased demand for the dollar as a refuge, while crude prices pulled back and risk assets advanced. Key currency pairs and oil benchmarks moved in line with the shift toward a ri…
World Bank President Ajay Banga said the institution could mobilize between $80 billion and $100 billion over the next 15 months to assist countries hardest hit by the war in the Middle East. The plan would deploy an immediate crisis response window allowing early withdrawals of previously approved funds, repurpose existing programs in the medium t…
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told a Washington audience that the U.S. economy remains fundamentally strong and could still grow more than 3% or even 3.5% this year, despite market strains from the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran. He criticized recent downward revisions to global growth and upward adjustments to inflation by the IMF and World Bank as e…
