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.
7,101 total articles
A legacy of non-performing loans from Greece’s debt crisis continues to restrict access to credit for roughly 1.5 million adults and is weighing on broader recovery. Legal disputes, protected primary residences used as collateral, and delays in servicing transfers have left an estimated €75 billion tied up, with many cases still working their way t…
Asian markets began the new quarter with caution as investors absorb large prior-quarter gains and ongoing, unproductive U.S.-Iran negotiations. Strong underlying economic data in Japan and South Korea support risk assets, while rising U.S. Treasury yields and dollar strength - including a 40-year high versus the yen - complicate the outlook ahead …
An analysis of standardized balance sheet data from S&P Global Market Intelligence covering 53 publicly traded business development companies (BDCs) finds the group moved into aggregate unprofitability in the first quarter of 2026. The shift is driven by writedowns on underlying loan portfolios - notably exposures to software firms - rising interes…
Alexander Demarco, head of the Central Bank of Malta, cautioned that the European Central Bank should not hasten another interest-rate increase in light of a swift retreat in oil prices. Speaking at the ECB Forum on Central Banking, Demarco argued that lower energy costs weaken the immediate case for further tightening, while noting that the centra…
Business surveys and official data indicate China's manufacturing sector continued to expand through June, marking the strongest performance since the fourth quarter of 2020. Driven by AI-related demand and easing cost pressures, the private sector PMI held above the 50-point growth threshold, though new export orders contracted and overall confide…
The U.S. dollar strengthened significantly, pushing the Japanese yen to a 40-year low of 162.77 in early Asian trading. This movement was driven by a sharp rise in U.S. Treasury yields and increasing market expectations for a Federal Reserve interest rate hike. Traders are closely watching the upcoming U.S. nonfarm payrolls report and are positioni…
Brazil's Ministry of Finance has issued a stark warning that achieving its fiscal targets will become impossible starting in 2028 unless the government introduces new revenue-generating measures or spending cuts. Despite implementing maximum freezes on discretionary spending, the nation's mandatory expenditures, particularly pensions and benefits, …
The US Commerce Department is preparing to lift export restrictions on Anthropic's Fable 5 AI model, marking a rapid policy reversal less than three weeks after an initial order to suspend access. This decision follows a partial restoration of access for Anthropic's Claude Mythos 5 model to select domestic organizations, signaling a calibrated appr…
New Zealand's economic expansion has encountered significant delays due to the oil price shock and rising global uncertainty, according to a concluding statement from the International Monetary Fund's 2026 Article IV mission. While the recovery showed signs of gaining momentum in early 2026 after a prolonged period of sluggish growth, disruptions t…
U.S. and European equity markets closed the month with significant quarterly gains, driven largely by technology and artificial intelligence sectors, despite a difficult June for individual monthly performance. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq recorded their strongest quarterly percentage increases in recent years, alongside Europe's STOXX 600. However, this…
The U.S. Justice Department has told federal prosecutors to make investigations into birth tourism a priority after the Supreme Court declined the administration's attempt to limit birthright citizenship. In a memo circulated to staff, senior DOJ official Colin McDonald said people who enter the country under "false pretenses" to give birth and sec…
A U.S. federal judge has issued an injunction preventing the Trump administration from enforcing a new Department of Education rule that would have removed public service workers from eligibility for federal student loan forgiveness. The ruling sides with a coalition of Democratic-led states, municipalities, and nonprofits, who successfully argued …
US property claim volumes contracted significantly in the first quarter of 2026, extending a downward trend that has persisted since the beginning of 2025. According to data from Verisk, the overall drop in claim volume was 8.9% year-over-year, with total claims sitting 13.13% below the five-year historical average. This reduction occurred despite …
A United States federal judge has issued a preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration from implementing a recently finalized rule regarding the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. U.S. District Judge Myong Joun ruled in favor of a coalition comprising Democratic-led states, municipal governments, and nonprofit organizations. The …
The US Treasury announced sanctions on Tuesday against two Mexican citizens and nine companies alleged to have facilitated a cross-border fuel-smuggling enterprise tied to the Cartel del Jalisco Nueva Generación (CJNG). Authorities say the individuals and their firms moved tens of millions of dollars through U.S. financial channels and took part in…
A group of hardline House Republicans blocked a procedural motion to begin debate on a major defense policy bill, insisting that the chamber advance stricter federal voter identification and citizenship requirements embodied in the SAVE America Act. The move exposed divisions within the GOP and left the defense measure stalled after a 224-198 vote.
The Federal Communications Commission will vote on July 22 on an order to hold a 2027 auction of 160 megahertz in the Upper C-Band, a mid-band slice prized for 5G. Legislation mandated at least 100 megahertz be auctioned; the FCC says it intends to free significantly more and expects the sale to generate billions of dollars. Proposed rules include …
ECB Governing Council member Primoz Dolenc said the bank could hold interest rates at its July meeting provided the situation in the Middle East does not deteriorate further and energy costs stay near current levels. He emphasized that a pause would be appropriate only if commodity market shocks do not spread and second-round inflation effects do n…
Over its nine-month term, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a string of decisions that broadly advanced conservative priorities on the bench - from regulatory authority and immigration to election law and culture-war disputes - while simultaneously rejecting key bids by the president to expand control over monetary policy and to reinterpret birthright …
Mercosur announced the start of formal negotiations with Japan for an economic partnership agreement during a leaders summit in Asuncion, aiming to deepen market access, investment and value-chain integration. The bloc — comprising Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay — said the pact would create a free-trade area covering about 400 million peop…
The Brazilian government has begun scaling back emergency fuel subsidies, starting with diesel, as part of a move to signal tighter fiscal management. The change partially reverses temporary tax cuts and subsidy measures introduced after an oil price surge tied to the Iran conflict. The decision comes as Brazil records a large nominal budget defici…
European Central Bank policymakers are discussing a proposal to raise the share of customer deposits banks must hold as non-remunerated minimum reserves from 1% to 2%. The measure, described by six sources, would trim the Eurosystem's interest bill tied to excess liquidity built up during past stimulus programmes, while also removing some of the su…
European Central Bank Governing Council member Olli Rehn said the conflict in the Middle East is both pushing up inflation and weighing on economic growth, a combination he characterized as stagflationary in nature though less severe than the 1970s. Speaking to Bloomberg Television in Sintra, Portugal, Rehn said he does not expect major second-roun…
Slovenian central bank governor Primoz Dolenc said at the ECB Forum on Central Banking in Sintra that a quicker-than-expected fall in energy prices could allow the European Central Bank to postpone its next interest rate decision until the September projections. He stressed the bank will follow incoming data, noting inflation has not yet shown clea…
Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack said on June 30 that she could support additional interest-rate increases if elevated inflation does not ease. Speaking on CNBC, Hammack emphasized that inflation has been too high for five years and said she remains open-minded heading into each Federal Open Market Committee meeting. The com…
