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.
5,112 total articles
European Trade Commissioner Maros Sefcovic said he and U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick agreed to accelerate conversations on steel derivatives during Sefcovic's trip to Washington. He described mutual recognition of global steel overcapacity, proposed renewed exploration of protected trading arrangements for their steel sectors, and outlined…
The Justice Department has closed its inquiry into Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Pirro said on Friday. The decision eliminates a major obstacle to the confirmation of Kevin Warsh, President Donald Trump’s nominee to lead the central bank, and prompted immediate market responses including a decline in the dollar and in T…
Canada posted a C$25.55 billion budget deficit for the first 11 months of the 2025/26 fiscal year, up from C$19.27 billion a year earlier, as program spending increased and revenue growth stayed modest. Public debt charges fell slightly overall but were partly offset by higher rates on an expanded stock of marketable bonds. Monthly figures showed a…
Jane Street generated $39.6 billion in trading revenue in 2025, a Wall Street record, driven by strong fourth-quarter performance and gains tied to valuations of private-company stakes. The firm reported adjusted EBITDA of about $31.2 billion and averaged more than $11 million in revenue per employee.
The United States and the European Union issued an action plan on Friday aimed at coordinating trade policy for critical minerals supply chains. The plan includes exploring a binding plurilateral agreement and examining trade tools such as border-adjusted price floors to support domestic industries and downstream sectors tied to advanced manufactur…
Switzerland's financial regulator, Finma, has warned that broad or uncontrolled access to Anthropic PBC's AI tool Mythos could create a severe systemic risk for the country's financial system. Regulators and central bankers are weighing how to balance the need to prevent misuse with the desire to ensure relevant institutions have access to powerful…
The Bank of Russia cut its policy rate by 50 basis points to 14.5% while raising its 2026 average oil price forecast to $65 per barrel, citing higher global commodity prices linked to the Iran war and a blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The central bank signalled caution on future easing, citing one-off domestic disruptions that hurt early-year act…
Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released a preview of V4, an open-source model family adapted to run on Huawei’s Ascend chips. V4 ships in two variants - Pro and Flash - supports a 1-million-token context window, and is positioned to work with agent frameworks such as Claude Code and OpenClaw. DeepSeek says Pro sets a new bar for open models in core ta…
A survey of 85 economists conducted April 17-23 indicates the European Central Bank (ECB) is likely to keep its deposit rate on April 30 but to raise it in June, with just over half forecasting a 25 basis-point increase. The vote reflects concern that a war-related spike in energy prices could push inflation further above the 2% target. Economists …
In Bern on April 24, Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel defended the institution's investment framework after activists in Minneapolis urged the central bank to divest its $1.1 billion position in Palantir Technologies. Schlegel reiterated that the SNB maintains a market-neutral equity approach, weights holdings by market capitalization t…
A Reuters poll of economists finds the Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to keep its policy rate at 2.25% at next week’s decision and through the remainder of the year. While markets price in a potential hike in the fourth quarter, economists say any future move would hinge on whether higher energy prices produce persistent inflation. A soft economy…
The central bank lowered its policy rate by 50 basis points to 14.5%. Governor Elvira Nabiullina said the committee weighed keeping the rate unchanged versus the cut, noted core inflation remains at 4-5% and at the upper end of forecasts, and warned that prospective changes to budget parameters could reduce scope for future monetary easing. She als…
The chair of Europe’s securities regulator said cyberattack risks are intensifying and that the arrival of rapidly advancing AI models could increase the speed with which such attacks unfold. Regulators are contacting supervised financial firms to assess defences, are building expertise to oversee critical third-party providers, and are monitoring …
In the run-up to the European Central Bank's April 30 policy meeting, senior ECB officials emphasized a cautious, data-driven approach amid rising energy prices. While markets largely expect no change to interest rates at this meeting, policymakers signaled that further rate hikes remain a possibility if energy-driven inflation proves persistent or…
UBS downgraded its recommendation on Eurozone equities to Neutral in March, pointing to the region's exposure to a sustained energy shock and lowering its 2026 earnings growth forecast. The bank retained a pro-cyclical bias within the Neutral stance, upgraded select pockets such as Swiss equities and European health care to Attractive, and set dive…
A sharp advance in U.S. equities is set to be tested by a heavy calendar of corporate earnings dominated by large technology firms and a Federal Reserve policy meeting that could coincide with a leadership change. Strong profit expectations and early reporting beats have supported the rally, but geopolitical developments and uncertainty over the Fe…
Kevin Warsh, nominated to lead the Federal Reserve, urged a major overhaul of how policymakers measure inflation. Recent February readings underscore the challenge: the Fed's headline metric showed inflation well above the 2% goal, while alternative approaches - including a trimmed mean favored by Warsh - yielded readings closer to target, and othe…
Weekly net purchases of global equity funds rose to $48.72 billion in the week through April 22, marking the largest weekly inflow since November 13, 2024. Momentum was supported by enthusiastic demand for artificial intelligence-related names and solid first-quarter results from several major U.S. banks. Flows were concentrated in U.S. and Europea…
Next week brings a convergence of three issues dominating investor focus: the Iran conflict and its impact on the Strait of Hormuz and oil prices, a run of central bank meetings that will test policymakers' tolerance for higher energy-driven inflation, and quarterly reports from five of the largest U.S. technology companies that underpin AI-driven …
China's central government increased fiscal expenditure by 2.6% in the first quarter versus a year earlier, up from a 1% rise in 2025, as authorities move to shore up growth. First-quarter outlays hit 7.47 trillion yuan while fiscal revenue rose 2.4% to 6.16 trillion yuan. The quarter's spending represented 24.9% of the annual budgeted total - the …
China's Commerce Minister Wang Wentao held separate meetings with Mercedes-Benz Group chairman Ola Källenius and Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury on Friday, asking both executives to encourage the European Union to revisit trade restrictions he described as protectionist and damaging to China-EU economic relations. Wang also urged Airbus to advance broad…
Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has called on Norway to direct some income from its $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund toward civilians harmed by the Iran war, drawing a parallel to Norway’s long-term support package for Ukraine. Egeland pointed to elevated oil prices and argued for targeted aid to Lebanon, Iran and other indir…
U.S. equity futures were mixed as investors digested persistent oil supply disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz, tentative ceasefire announcements involving Israel and Lebanon, and strong chip-sector results. Brent crude held above $100 a barrel, reinforcing inflation and growth concerns. In corporate headlines, Intel surged in after-hours trading a…
Swiss National Bank Chairman Martin Schlegel told the SNB’s annual meeting that the Middle East conflict has injected significant uncertainty into the global economy and will likely slow growth and push inflation higher in Switzerland in the near term. He reiterated the bank's readiness to use interest-rate policy and foreign exchange interventions…
A delegation from Minneapolis asked the Swiss National Bank at its shareholders' meeting in Bern to sell a $1.1 billion holding in Palantir Technologies, citing the data firm's work with U.S. immigration enforcement and concerns raised after two fatal shootings in Minneapolis. The SNB maintains it reviews holdings and invests reserves to mirror glo…
