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.
7,197 total articles
China's central bank left its benchmark loan prime rates unchanged for the 10th month running, keeping the one-year LPR at 3.00% and the five-year LPR at 3.50%. Officials continue to rely on market liquidity tools and signaled further fiscal and monetary support while setting a slightly softer 2026 growth target amid weak domestic demand.
European Union leaders agreed clear deadlines for a broad set of reforms aimed at making the single market of 450 million consumers more effective and competitive versus foreign rivals. The summit conclusions require EU institutions and member states to deliver measures on cross-border services, banking competitiveness, emissions trading, professio…
Anduril Industries will begin assembling its FURY high-speed, 'loyal wingman' combat drones in the coming days at the new Arsenal-1 manufacturing campus in Ohio. The $1 billion facility, located about 20 miles south of Columbus, is slated to employ more than 4,000 people over the next decade, with an initial workforce of roughly 250 by year-end. An…
The U.S. Department of Defense has requested more than $200 billion in additional funds to cover operations related to the Iran conflict. Lawmakers from both parties have pushed back, and Pentagon officials say the figure remains subject to change. Early estimates put the first six days of the campaign at more than $11 billion, with daily costs ass…
The Pentagon has asked the White House to approve a request to Congress for more than $200 billion to fund U.S. military operations in Iran. The figure has drawn immediate resistance from Democrats and surprised some Republicans, who noted recent record defense appropriations and pressed for more information on how the funds would be used.
U.S. stocks erased early declines after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told reporters that 20 days of joint U.S.-Israeli air strikes have, in his assessment, stripped Iran of the ability to enrich uranium and produce ballistic missiles. Netanyahu said Iran's missile and drone stockpiles are being degraded and that strikes are aimed at fa…
Jeff Bezos is engaged in preliminary discussions to raise roughly $100 billion for a fund that would acquire manufacturing businesses and deploy AI to accelerate automation. The vehicle, described in investor materials as a manufacturing transformation fund, is targeting industrial segments such as chipmaking, defense and aerospace. Bezos has also …
Yannis Stournaras, governor of the Bank of Greece and a member of the European Central Bank’s Governing Council, said the Middle East war is acting as an economic drag on Europe and should prompt deeper integration. He argued the bloc needs institutional change, notably joint debt issuance to reduce financing costs and to collectively fund high-pri…
A fresh escalation in the Iran conflict that targeted energy infrastructure has driven oil to about $119 a barrel, sent European gas prices sharply higher and prompted broad selling across bonds, equities and gold. Traders have repriced rate expectations for the Bank of England and other central banks, heightening market volatility and raising the …
Morgan Stanley has revised its projection for Federal Reserve interest-rate cuts, moving its prior June and September calls to September and December, after interpreting Chair Jerome Powell's post-meeting remarks as signalling greater caution and heightened uncertainty. The bank highlights oil-price risk, recommends a neutral stance on U.S. Treasur…
At Tulane University’s Corporate Law Institute in New Orleans, senior bankers and M&A lawyers said the total value of transactions has climbed to near all-time highs despite market volatility, geopolitical conflicts and regulatory uncertainty. Panelists noted that fewer deals are being completed but the ones that are happening tend to involve large…
The European Central Bank kept its key interest rate at 2% but warned that higher oil and gas prices linked to the Iran conflict increase the risk that inflation will rise. Officials signalled they are likely to begin discussing rate hikes in the near term if energy-driven price pressure persists, with markets already pricing in further tightening …
President Donald Trump hosted Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi at the White House, commending Japan for backing U.S. actions in Iran while also making a provocative reference to Pearl Harbor when questioned about ally notification prior to strikes. Takaichi did not respond to that remark but affirmed that Iran must never obtain nuclear weapon…
The Czech National Bank kept its key interest rate at 3.50% in a unanimous decision by its seven-member Bank Board. The central bank did not publish a fresh macroeconomic forecast at the meeting and said an updated outlook will be released in May. In a post-decision press conference, officials underlined the need to maintain tight monetary conditio…
The average rate on the U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rose to 6.22% this week, the highest level since early December, driven by market reactions to conflict in the Middle East that pushed oil prices and U.S. Treasury yields higher. The increase reverses a recent dip to 5.98% after federal directives expanded mortgage-backed securities purchases, and…
The International Monetary Fund said it is closely tracking the Iran war and related interruptions to seaborne oil and gas flows, cautioning that a sustained rise in energy prices would lift global inflation and shave economic growth. The IMF noted crude has climbed more than 50% to exceed $100 a barrel, has not received formal requests for emergen…
Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine Capital pointed to a swift 50 basis point rise in the U.S. two-year Treasury yield over a period of under three weeks and suggested the move could indicate a forthcoming Federal Reserve rate increase. The two-year reached 3.928% on Thursday morning before easing to about 3.8%. Market pricing in Fed fund futures still …
Speaking in Doha on Thursday, Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said Ankara is offering "friendly" counsel to Tehran to prevent its war with the United States and Israel from spreading across the Middle East. Fidan described Iran's attacks on regional countries as unacceptable, acknowledged Israel as the main actor in the conflict, and stressed…
Senator Elizabeth Warren has asked Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump's nominee for Federal Reserve chair, to explain the nature and extent of any interactions with Jeffrey Epstein after Warsh's name surfaced in government-released documents tied to Epstein. Warren, the top Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, asked Warsh to respond by March …
Most developed market central banks left policy rates unchanged this week while warning they are prepared to raise borrowing costs if an energy shock from the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran pushes inflation higher. Traders have trimmed expectations for cuts by the Federal Reserve and increased bets on hikes from other central banks. Australia rema…
The European Central Bank left its main interest rate unchanged at 2% and highlighted the war in the Middle East as a growing risk to growth and inflation in the euro zone. ECB President Christine Lagarde said services and private consumption remain the primary supports for expansion, but noted the conflict is disrupting commodity markets, denting …
A sudden rise in oil prices tied to an intensifying U.S.-Israeli war with Iran has further reduced the prospect of an interest-rate cut by the Federal Reserve this year. The move in energy markets has pushed gasoline costs higher, prompted Fed officials to lift inflation projections, and diminished near-term odds of monetary easing, complicating th…
The European Central Bank left its main interest rate at 2% on Thursday and flagged that the war in Iran is weighing on the outlook for growth and inflation across the euro zone. Short-dated sovereign yields moved sharply higher, the euro strengthened modestly against the dollar, and European equities fell amid renewed selling linked to the Middle …
The European Central Bank raised its baseline inflation forecasts on higher energy costs and signalled additional downside risk to growth if a prolonged conflict in the Middle East disrupts oil and gas supplies. The ECB now projects 2026 inflation at 2.6% and 2027 inflation at 2.0%, both above previous December estimates, and will publish alternati…
The European Central Bank left its policy rates unchanged on Thursday, maintaining the deposit facility at 2.0%, main refinancing at 2.15% and marginal lending at 2.4%. In its statement, the ECB flagged that a joint U.S.-Israeli assault on Iran has made the outlook "significantly more uncertain," highlighting higher energy prices - notably natural …
