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.
7,112 total articles
Nilton David, monetary policy director at Brazil’s central bank, said the institution’s cautious strategy amid growing uncertainties - including the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran - has delivered results. Speaking at a JPMorgan event in Washington, David said the bank avoids acting on single data points, began a modest easing cycle with a 25 basis-point …
European Central Bank board member Isabel Schnabel said the ECB occupies a "relatively favorable" monetary policy position after inflation was reduced to 2% prior to the outbreak of the Middle East war. Speaking in Washington, she urged patience and data-dependence as the bank evaluates whether recent energy price shocks pose risks of entrenched in…
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq closed at record highs on Wednesday as investors digested signals from the U.S.-Iran situation and corporate profit results. Technology shares led gains, while energy and safe-haven assets showed mixed moves. Market participants continue to monitor geopolitical developments, central bank commentary and a slate of economic rel…
The World Bank and several major development banks launched Water Forward, a coordinated effort to expand reliable water services and reduce water stress for up to a billion people within four years. The initiative will prioritise investments in urban leakage reduction, modern irrigation, wastewater reuse and data-driven planning across 14 water-st…
White House budget director Russell Vought told the House Budget Committee that officials cannot yet estimate the cost of the war with Iran as he defended President Donald Trump’s proposal for an annual $1.5 trillion defense budget. The administration’s fiscal year 2027 request would raise military spending by $500 billion while cutting non-defense…
The International Monetary Fund's mission chief for Japan, Rahul Anand, said in Washington that the Bank of Japan can look through inflationary pressures stemming from the war in the Middle East, arguing second-round impacts on wages and core inflation should be limited. The IMF still expects inflation in Japan to converge to the BOJ's 2% target by…
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent reiterated support for implementing the International Monetary Fund's long-delayed quota revisions and pressed the World Bank to speed financing for critical minerals projects that reduce dependence on China. He also welcomed the July 2026 expiration of the World Bank's Climate Change Action Plan and urged a re…
On April 15, a coalition of officials from developing economies formally launched the Borrowers' Platform, an initiative supported by the United Nations intended to amplify the negotiating power of debtor nations. The platform is designed as both a collective voice in creditor negotiations and a repository for shared experiences, with an interim ph…
St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem warned that elevated oil prices are likely to keep underlying inflation roughly a percentage point above the Fed's 2% goal through the remainder of the year, making it likely the central bank will keep its policy rate at the current 3.50%-3.75% range for an extended period. Musalem said he would r…
Summary: St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem told Reuters that higher oil costs are likely to push core inflation to about 3% for the remainder of the year, well above the Fed's 2% target. He said the central bank may keep its policy rate in the current 3.50%-3.75% range "for some time" while watching incoming data on inflation, lab…
World Liberty Financial has put forward a governance proposal that would extend trading restrictions on early investors' tokens, keeping 80% of those holdings locked for an initial two-year period followed by an additional two years of vesting. The change, which also imposes extra vesting and a 10% token burn on tokens held by the project's founder…
The Federal Reserve's latest Beige Book reports modest expansion in U.S. economic activity and broadly steady employment, while noting that the Iran war and a jump in energy prices have introduced significant uncertainty. Firms have taken a wait-and-see stance on hiring, pricing and capital spending as higher fuel, shipping and input costs ripple t…
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is probing a series of oil futures transactions that occurred shortly before public statements by President Donald Trump on the Iran conflict. The review targets trading on platforms run by CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange and includes requests for Tag 50 identifiers to determine which entities execut…
Colombia's Constitutional Court has ruled the economic emergency declared by President Gustavo Petro's administration unconstitutional and ordered the reversal of funds collected under the decrees. The government raised 1.67 trillion pesos through measures enacted during the state of emergency, which had been intended as part of an 11 trillion peso…
Norway’s $2.1 trillion sovereign wealth fund will continue to allocate roughly half of its assets to U.S. equities, Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg said at the Semafor World Economy conference. Stoltenberg cited the dynamism of the American stock market but warned the Iran war’s effects on energy prices could lift inflation and weigh on…
The S&P 500 reached an intraday record high on Wednesday, the first such high since the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war, as growing expectations for de-escalation coupled with stronger-than-expected corporate earnings projections drew investors back toward risk assets. Market positioning shifted despite ongoing geopolitical uncertainty, supported by …
The International Monetary Fund expects at least 12 countries to seek new financing to manage higher energy costs and disrupted supply chains from the war in the Middle East, with several requests coming from sub-Saharan Africa. IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva cautioned that interruptions from a potentially closed Strait of Hormuz will h…
Thailand's government has not reached a decision on whether to raise its internal ceiling on public debt, currently set at 70% of GDP, Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas said at a panel during the IMF-World Bank Spring Meetings in Washington. Officials are still discussing both the technical details of any change and how any additional borrowin…
Sellers submitted seven oil cargo offers in a North Sea pricing window on Wednesday while only two bids were entered and subsequently withdrawn, according to traders monitoring the S&P Global unit-run window. This is the first session since March 16 in which offers outpaced bids, a reversal from last week's buyer-dominated activity. One offer on We…
Major U.S. banks reported hefty first-quarter investment banking revenue and say pipelines remain full, supporting expectations for an active 2026 in dealmaking. However, the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran and related market volatility are weighing on executive confidence and could alter the timing or completion of transactions and listings.
Israel's year-on-year inflation rate declined to 1.9% in March from 2.0% in February, remaining inside the government's 1-3% target band. Despite the cooling, a surge in global energy prices tied to military actions involving Iran and subsequent blockades of the Strait of Hormuz have reduced the likelihood of an immediate interest-rate cut, the cen…
L3Harris Technologies announced a $1.27 billion investment to expand solid rocket motor production at its Orange County, Virginia, site. The move accompanies a separate $1 billion U.S. government commitment into L3Harris' Missile Solutions unit via a convertible preferred stake ahead of that unit's planned public offering in the second half of 2026…
A set of policymakers at the European Central Bank are reluctant to raise interest rates this month, saying they have not yet observed convincing signs that the recent surge in inflation tied to energy price shocks is spreading across the economy. While a policy response remains a possibility if inflation expectations or wage pressures change, sour…
Government records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show that the Internal Revenue Service reduced enforcement activity in fiscal 2025 after large-scale staff cuts overseen by a Trump administration cost-cutting agency. The result: a 5% drop in enforcement revenue, roughly $5 billion, and more than 120,000 fewer audits. The agency lost…
Qatar’s finance minister warned at the IMF spring meetings that a continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz and ongoing trade restrictions affecting supplies of natural gas, fertilizers and helium could precipitate a much larger economic crisis in the coming months. Damage to Qatar’s Ras Laffan LNG complex and constrained helium exports are central…
