The ISM Manufacturing PMI fell to 48 in July 2025 from 49 in June, missing expectations of a rise to 49.5. This figure marked the fifth consecutive month of contraction in the manufacturing sector and was the weakest since October of last year. The largest negative contributions came from declines in supplier deliveries (45.7 vs. 46.7) and employment (43.4 vs. 45.0). On the positive side, production increased (51.4 vs. 50.3), while declines in new orders (47.1 vs. 46.4) and backlogs (46.8 vs. 44.3) eased. Price pressures also eased, with the price index falling to 64.8 from 69.7. Source:...
Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda reaffirmed the central bank's commitment to raising interest rates if underlying inflation nears its 2% target. While core consumer inflation has stayed above 2% for three years, demand-driven pressures remain subdued. Ueda told parliament the BoJ is keeping real interest rates negative to support stable, sustained inflation. "Once we have more conviction that underlying inflation will approach or hover around 2%, we will continue to raise rates," he said. The BoJ ended its decade-long stimulus last year, lifting short-term rates to 0.5% in January as...
The minutes of the Federal Reserve's (Fed) discount rate meetings from April 7, 28, and May 8 revealed that policymakers are increasingly uneasy about the coming economic impacts, mostly from U.S. trade policy. While overall economic conditions are stable, tariff uncertainty continues to weigh on business operators, who are preparing contingency plans and slowing their investment and spending rates. Key highlights Overall, central bank directors noted considerable uncertainty about the outlook. While most directors described current economic conditions as generally stable, they also...
Austan Goolsbee, President of the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, expressed his belief on Monday that the U.S. central bank will be able to reduce short-term borrowing costs once the uncertainty caused by tariff policies is resolved. During a webcast interview with the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal in Davenport, Iowa, Goolsbee stated that if the economy can navigate through this challenging period, the dual mandate looks promising. The dual mandate of the Fed is a reference to its two primary objectives: full employment and price stability. Goolsbee further stated his ongoing belief...
Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary C. Daly was on the news Thursday night, noting that the White House's unbalanced trade policies are keeping the Fed in a wait-and-see mode as policymakers prepare to see what kind of impact on the U.S. economy high import tariffs will have on the broader economy. Key highlights The labor market is in solid shape. Workers are worried about inflation. We're not going to get to 2% inflation this year. We're actually making progress on inflation. I see the balance in the labor market that we need for 2% inflation. Bond yields show the...
According to a statement by the Federal Reserve (Fed), Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday, where the head of the Fed reiterated that the Fed's decisions on monetary policy are based on trackable data from the US economy. Donald Trump has been writhing on social media for months, desiring sharp rate cuts from the Fed as a low rate environment tends to make federal debt cheaper, something that the Trump administration's budget policies will add plenty of over the next ten years. Fed highlights Fed Chair Powell met with Trump at White House...
China's official NBS Manufacturing PMI increased to 49.7 in June 2025 from May's 49.5, matching market expectations while marking the third consecutive month of contraction in factory activity.
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Both the STOXX 50 and STOXX 600 hovered around the flatline on Friday, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of further developments in trade talks between US President Trump and Chinese...
The U.S. will levy a 30% tariff on South African exports next week, after Pretoria failed to reach a trade deal before President Donald Trump's deadline. The new rate is part of a broader executive...