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.
911 total articles
U.S. seaports handled 6.8% fewer container imports in January versus the prior year, according to Descartes Systems Group. The month saw 2,318,722 TEUs overall, a figure above the historical average that Descartes attributes to steadier demand rather than the frontloading that drove January 2025’s record. Imports from China fell 22.7% to 771,093 TE…
Spain’s far-right Vox party doubled its seat total in the Aragon regional election, rising to 14 seats from seven with 18% of the vote. The governing People’s Party, which called a snap election in December after budget talks collapsed hoping to strengthen its position, remains the largest party with 26 seats but is now further from a majority and …
Bank of America analysts say Kevin Warsh, President Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve Chair, would likely encounter substantial obstacles in shrinking the Fed's sizable bond portfolio unless that effort is paired with tighter financial conditions or changes to bank liquidity rules. While Warsh has consistently criticized the Fed's asset purchases…
Supporters of President Trump say they remain broadly satisfied with his first year in office but want him to shift emphasis toward domestic issues in year two. In conversations with 20 voters tracked monthly over the past year, priorities that repeatedly surfaced included immigration reform that creates legal pathways for long-standing residents, …
Bank of America analysts say proposed adjustments to the Eurosystem’s repurchase facility, intended to broaden access to euro liquidity, are unlikely to make the European Central Bank the main funding avenue for non-euro area residents buying euro assets. While the changes aim to make euros cheaper and more accessible and to shore up confidence in …
Brad Karp, who led Paul Weiss for more than a decade and transformed the firm into a global legal powerhouse, resigned as chairman this week after the U.S. Justice Department released emails revealing his communications with Jeffrey Epstein. The disclosures followed a turbulent period beginning with the 2024 election and included a negotiated deal …
Summary: European Central Bank policymaker Martin Kocher told reporters that the euro is increasingly seen as a safe-haven currency and that Europe must bolster its financial infrastructure to accommodate a potentially larger international role for the euro. The ECB recently moved to broaden access to euro liquidity facilities and plans to present …
This week’s markets are likely to be dominated by delayed U.S. jobs data for January and fresh inflation statistics, with corporate tech earnings and political events in Japan and the U.K. adding further complexity. Investors will parse the numbers for signs of a stabilizing labor market and muted inflation, while earnings commentary on AI and the …
Barclays strategists argue that the economic effects of artificial intelligence extend beyond technology stock valuations to influence productivity, monetary policy, employment and public debt dynamics. While markets appear to have priced in strong AI-related earnings growth, the bank cautions that evidence of broad-based productivity gains remains…
Denmark's economy appears resilient despite geopolitical jitters over Greenland and a sharp market correction for Novo Nordisk, according to a senior official at the Danish central bank. Governor Ulrik Nødgaard told attendees at the Warwick Economic Summit that the central bank's outlook remains broadly intact, with the 2% growth forecast from Sept…
U.S. stock futures opened modestly higher as traders brace for a heavy calendar of corporate earnings and delayed economic releases. Chipmaker Onsemi is scheduled to report after Monday’s close. In Asia, markets gained following a commanding parliamentary victory for Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. Commodities were mixed, with gold and silve…
South Korea's Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) warned that an accidental distribution by exchange Bithumb of more than $40 billion in bitcoin to customers highlights structural vulnerabilities in cryptocurrency systems and reinforces the need for tougher regulatory measures as digital assets are integrated into the mainstream financial framework…
Japan’s landslide parliamentary victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party gives her a strong political foothold to pursue an expansionary economic agenda. Markets reacted with equity rallies but have held back decisive moves in bonds and the yen pending clarity on how new measures will be funded and whether policymakers w…
A private survey shows Japan saw a rise in corporate bankruptcies in January, driven in part by higher labour costs and worsening labour shortages among smaller businesses. Separate government data indicated real wages fell 0.1% in December from a year earlier, improving from a steeper drop in November. Policymakers face a dilemma: lift pay to sust…
Goldman Sachs has upgraded its projection for India’s real GDP growth in 2026 by 20 basis points to 6.9% year-on-year, attributing the revision to a substantial reduction in U.S. tariffs under an interim trade agreement. The pact lowers duties on a wide swath of Indian exports, includes commitments on Indian purchases of U.S. goods, and prompts Gol…
South Korea's National Assembly has established a 16-member special committee to accelerate passage of legislation tied to Seoul's $350 billion investment commitments in the United States. The move follows a late-January announcement by U.S. President Donald Trump threatening to raise tariffs on South Korean goods, which Seoul says prompted urgent …
Japan's $1.4 trillion foreign currency reserves have emerged as a potential funding source after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi vowed to pursue a two-year suspension of the 8% tax on food sales without issuing new debt. Officials and economists warn the reserves - intended for currency stability and largely invested in U.S. Treasuries - should not b…
Markets face a busy calendar after Japan’s snap election produced a sweeping victory for Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s coalition, lifting equities and reshaping perceptions of fiscal policy in Tokyo. At the same time, investors are increasingly sorting winners and losers in the AI trade, while a backlog of major U.S. economic releases - postponed…
A survey of economists indicates that Chinese banks probably extended roughly 5 trillion yuan of net new yuan loans in January, a sharp increase from December's subdued reading and close to the strong pace recorded a year earlier. Analysts cite a steady bill discount rate and government policy efforts to boost consumption as supporting factors, whi…
Japan's election delivered a commanding result for the Liberal Democratic Party and Sanae Takaichi, sending the Nikkei sharply higher and prompting moves across bond and currency markets. The LDP and its coalition partner now hold a supermajority in the lower house, clearing the way for potentially larger defence spending, tax cuts and corporate re…
Hong Kong’s High Court on Feb. 9 sentenced Jimmy Lai, founder of the pro-democracy Apple Daily, to 20 years in prison after finding him guilty of two counts of conspiracy to collude with foreign forces under the national security law and one count of publishing seditious materials. Lai, 78, had pleaded not guilty. His prosecution unfolded over mult…
Japan's Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi expressed gratitude to U.S. President Donald Trump following a decisive lower house election result that delivered a supermajority for her ruling coalition. She says she will visit Washington this spring and intends to press ahead with a fiscal agenda and an assertive security policy emphasizing closer ties wit…
Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry will clarify in a May update to its mergers and acquisitions code that corporate boards retain the right to refuse unsolicited takeover offers, including those carrying high premiums. The move responds to government concerns about foreign and activist bids targeting strategic firms and follows a recen…
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's commanding election victory on Sunday has increased the likelihood she will implement the Liberal Democratic Party's pledge to suspend the 8% sales tax on food for two years. Markets reacted sharply to the prospect of the tax pause, with stocks rising, government bonds selling off and the yen slipping to multi-year l…
Lee Seung-heon, a leading candidate to succeed Bank of Korea Governor Rhee Chang-yong, advocates raising property ownership taxes to temper a housing price surge that he says could fuel inflation and block homeownership for middle-income families. He argues against immediate interest rate increases, calling further tightening premature given weak g…
