GBP/USD moved sideways and tended to hover above the 1.3300 area during Thursday's Asian session. After bouncing from around 1.3310 (a one-week low), the pair is now fluctuating slightly around 1.3370 as the market awaits two major triggers: the Bank of England (BoE) decision and the US inflation (CPI) release.The BoE is scheduled to announce its policy today, and the market is widely expecting a 25 bps interest rate cut, following a pause in November. These expectations were further strengthened by weaker UK inflation data, which automatically weighed on the pound.The latest data showed UK...
President Donald Trump's tariff hikes will drag down growth in Canada, Mexico and the United States while driving up inflation, the OECD forecast on Monday, cutting its global economic outlook and warning that a broader trade war would sap growth further. In the case of a generalised trade shock, not only will U.S. households pay a high direct price, but the likely economic slowdown will cost the United States more than the extra income the tariffs are supposed to generate, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated in its interim outlook. Global growth is on...
Retail Sales in the United States (US) rose by 0.2% in February to $722.7 billion, the US Census Bureau announced on Monday. This reading followed the 1.2% decrease reported in January and came in worse than the market expectation for an increase 0.7%. On a yearly basis, Retail Sales were up 3.1%. Source: FXstreet
German carmaker BMW (ETR:BMWG) said on Friday it expected tariffs to cost it 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion) this year, while European officials warned the U.S. economy would be the biggest loser if President Donald Trump pursues an "idiotic" trade war. BMW is directly in the firing line of the trade spat between Washington and the European Union, set to escalate in early April as Trump imposes "reciprocal" tariffs to match higher duty rates of EU and other countries and counteract their non-tariff trade barriers. Trump has increased tariffs on U.S. steel and aluminium imports and imposed...
Bank of America has cut 16 bankers from its investment banking department in Hong Kong as part of global cuts to its dealmaking workforce, three sources with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. The reductions mainly targeted junior positions, said the sources, who asked not to be named as they were not authorised to speak to media. Most junior bankers were offered positions in other departments within Bank of America, one of the sources said, but it was unclear how many of them had accepted the proposal. Bank of America declined to comment. The U.S. lender is eliminating 150...
US President Donald Trump said Friday there was a "very good chance" that the war between Russia and Ukraine could end after "productive" discussions with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. "We had a very good and productive discussion with President Vladimir Putin of Russia yesterday, and there is a very good chance that this terrible and bloody war can finally be over," Trump said in a Truth Social post, adding that he had asked Putin to spare the lives of Ukrainian troops who are "completely surrounded." US envoy Steve Witkoff had a lengthy meeting with Putin in Moscow on...
U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in more than two years and long-term inflation expectations jumped the most since 1993, reflecting growing concerns about the economic impact of tariffs. A preliminary March sentiment index fell to 57.9, the lowest level since November 2022, from 64.7 a month earlier, according to University of Michigan data released Friday. The reading was weaker than all estimates in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Consumers expect prices to rise at an annual rate of 3.9% over the next five to 10 years, up 0.6 percentage point from the previous month and...
The recent data on tariffs and consumer decision-making is clear: raise prices on a product due to higher import taxes, and consumers will turn to a cheaper alternative. That doesn't bode well for certain U.S. products, and the states where they are produced, as the U.S. and EU engage in tit-for-tat tariff threats. Think California almonds, Tennessee whiskey, and rearview mirrors from Michigan. From 2017-2019, Tennessee whiskey exports to the European Union dropped from $362 million to $220 million amid President Donald Trump's first term trade war, and exports remained low until the...
After flubbing his planned doubling of tariffs on Canada, which saw Canada poised to lash back with stiff increases in the cost of energy exported from the province of Ontario to the US, US President Donald Trump is shifting his tariff focus to the European Union, but maintaining the same playbook. Donald Trump's brief standoff against Canada saw the US's neighbor to the north make zero concessions. Canada is now on pace to impose a strategic package of tariffs against key US goods in retaliation for the US's steel and import tariffs that went into effect this week, and trade terms under...
Gold rises in the early Asian trade. There's a broad commodities uptrend, driven by macro uncertainty, a weaker dollar, and persistent demand for "hard" assets, says Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst...
Oil extended declines after OPEC+ agreed to a bigger-than-expected production increase next month, raising concerns about oversupply just as US tariffs fan fears about the demand outlook.
Brent...
The Japanese Yen (JPY) weakened against its US counterpart and reversed part of Friday's recovery from the lowest level since July 23 following Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda's remarks....