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.
7,198 total articles
The UK government is considering moving more quickly to increase defence expenditure to 3% of gross domestic product, with advisers to the prime minister examining ways to achieve the target ahead of the previously stated timetable. No decision has been taken, but officials acknowledge that current plans do not fully cover escalating defence costs.…
Markets enter a thin-turned-busy week as much of Asia celebrates the Lunar New Year and investors await a slate of corporate earnings and macroeconomic data. Walmart’s quarterly report will be scrutinized for clues on U.S. consumer spending after mixed retail and employment figures. European mining giants face results against a backdrop of volatile…
Asian markets opened a quiet week amid regional holidays, but fresh Japanese GDP figures undercut recent equity gains. December-quarter GDP expanded just 0.2% annualised, well below expectations, while year-on-year growth slowed sharply. At the same time, chipmakers in Taiwan and South Korea surged on heavy AI-related spending by hyperscalers. With…
Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda and Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will hold their first bilateral meeting since her decisive election win. The discussion, scheduled for 5 p.m. local time, is expected to touch on the central bank's recent rate tightening and market speculation about another rate rise as early as March or April amid a higher cost o…
Ukraine and the International Monetary Fund have renegotiated elements of a proposed $8.2 billion lending programme to reduce the scope of politically sensitive tax increases, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said. The IMF board is expected to review the revised programme at its next meeting; its approval is necessary for unlocking further internati…
The Japanese yen retreated modestly on Monday after a strong weekly gain driven by reduced political uncertainty, while the U.S. dollar held steady following softer-than-expected U.S. inflation data. Markets face light liquidity because of regional holidays, and traders are recalibrating expectations for Bank of Japan and Federal Reserve policy mov…
Hirofumi Yoshimura, head of the Japan Innovation Party, told Reuters that politicians should not intervene in Bank of Japan rate decisions and urged the government to focus on fiscal measures to bolster the economy ahead of possible further rate rises. He reiterated support for a two-year suspension of the 8% sales tax on food at the earliest possi…
Anduril Industries is reportedly negotiating a new funding round that could raise up to $8 billion at a valuation of at least $60 billion. The potential capital would be used to underwrite the company’s first large-scale weapons-manufacturing facility and to advance an autonomous fighter jet program. The target valuation would be roughly double the…
Chongli's ski-resort revival, led by Wanlong, illustrates how targeted infrastructure and agglomeration can unlock latent consumer demand. Beijing is increasingly promoting state investment in services - from winter sports to medical and elder care - as it seeks to revive consumption. Analysts warn the same supply-driven approach that built industr…
Japan’s economy recorded a slim annualised expansion of 0.2% in the October-December quarter, driven by a marginal recovery in corporate investment while private consumption cooled. The outcome was below market expectations and follows a larger revised contraction in the prior quarter, leaving policymakers and markets to weigh a gradual recovery am…
Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann told a UK newspaper that the substantial increases in minimum pay for younger workers over the past three years have been a key factor in rising unemployment for that age group, rather than an early sign of broader labour-market deterioration. Youth unemployment for 18-24 year olds rose to 13.7% in the thr…
Bank of America analysts say a widening split between affluent and low-income households is focusing attention on affordability ahead of U.S. midterms. They flag Fed-driven mortgage rate relief as a likely policy response that could weigh on the U.S. dollar, while uncertainty over Kevin Warsh's Fed policy stance and the labor implications of artifi…
BCA Research has raised alarms about the scale and vulnerability of the Japanese yen carry trade, saying positions funded in yen have swelled to levels that make a reversal potentially disruptive for global markets. The firm points to enormous outstanding forward and swap exposures, limited hedging by domestic insurers, and historical patterns wher…
The European Central Bank has opened its Eurosystem repo facility, known as Eurep, to nearly all foreign central banks outside the euro area, excluding those under international sanctions or linked to money laundering or terrorist financing. The move raises the per‑central bank borrowing cap to 50 billion euros and will become operational in July. …
A review of court records shows more than 4,400 federal rulings since October concluding that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement held immigrants unlawfully. The surge of habeas petitions - more than 20,200 filed since the administration took office - and strained government legal resources have produced repeated judicial orders for release, w…
Kevin Warsh has long criticized the Federal Reserve's large bond holdings and favors a smaller balance sheet. Analysts at BofA and Morgan Stanley caution that any meaningful reduction would be technically difficult, slow, and could produce funding and market volatility unless accompanied by changes to bank liquidity liabilities or regulations. The …
More than 30,000 attendees at Web Summit in Doha converged on three recurring themes for artificial intelligence: its capacity to amplify small teams and startups, a pivot toward specialized, domain-specific AI solutions rather than commoditized large language models, and an emphasis on regional compute resilience and energy-backed data center stra…
A nonprofit and two Washington residents filed suit in federal court to block the Trump administration's efforts to remake East Potomac Park, including the East Potomac Golf Course. The plaintiffs say the administration's actions - including canceling a 50-year lease held by the National Links Trust - conflict with a congressional act from 1897 and…
Cathay Home Inc has withdrawn a federal trademark application for the name 'Swift Home' after facing opposition from Taylor Swift's company, TAS Rights Management LLC. The challenge, centered on a cursive rendition of the word "Swift" in Cathay's proposed logo, prompted Cathay's attorney to say the company would not pursue registration for a mark i…
Havana's familiar chorus of vintage gasoline cars is giving way to electric vehicles as Cuba confronts a severe fuel shortfall following tightened U.S. measures that halted Venezuelan oil shipments and warned other suppliers. Residents and state services increasingly rely on electric tricycles and rickshaw-style vehicles to keep neighborhoods mobil…
Chicago Federal Reserve President Austan Goolsbee described the latest Consumer Price Index report as a mix of encouraging signs and lingering problems. While headline inflation cooled to 2.4% year-over-year in January, Goolsbee warned that services inflation is still "not tame" and "pretty high," and said inflation looks "stuck around 3%." He left…
Two U.S. banking regulators have submitted rule drafts to the Office of Management and Budget that signal movement toward a fresh set of global-style capital rules for large banks. The filings, posted to the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs website, offer no technical details or timetable; the Federal Reserve has not posted a correspond…
The federal government has proposed a $38.3 billion Detention Reengineering Initiative (DRI) to expand and consolidate the U.S. immigration detention network. The plan would add more than 92,000 beds through acquisition, renovation and repurposing of facilities, create new regional processing centers and large-scale detention sites, and is slated f…
January's consumer price index showed headline inflation moderating to 2.4% year-over-year, below expectations and down from December's 2.7%. Monthly headline CPI rose 0.2% versus a 0.3% consensus while core CPI matched forecasts on both monthly and yearly measures. The report followed a strong jobs print, spurring investors to price in a somewhat …
The U.S. Supreme Court has scheduled February 20 as an opinion day that will likely include a decision on President Trump's tariff policies. Additional opinion sessions are scheduled for February 24 and 25. The case, heard on an expedited timeline, could invalidate major tariffs that federal data show are costing importers more than $16 billion eac…
