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...
Many of Japan's biggest companies are expected to offer substantial wage hikes for a third consecutive year when they conclude talks with unions on Wednesday, seeking to help workers cope with inflation and retain staff amid labour shortages. Last year's "shunto" or "spring labour offensive" negotiations resulted in the sharpest increase in 33 years, enabling the central bank to exit its decade-long super-loose monetary policy. Record corporate profits, helped by a weak yen, also support the case for lifting pay and this year economists expect increases to be similar to last year's average...
U.S. job openings increased in January, but demand for labor is likely to soften in the months ahead amid concerns that uncertainty over import tariffs and aggressive government spending cuts could cause a sharp slowdown in economic activity. For now, the labor market is holding steady, with the Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, from the Labor Department on Tuesday showing layoffs declining for a fourth straight month to the lowest level since last June. There were 1.13 job openings for every unemployed person, up from 1.09 in December. Hiring, however, remained...
President Donald Trump on Tuesday doubled his planned tariffs on all steel and aluminum products entering the United States from Canada, bringing the total to 50%, in response to the province of Ontario imposing, opens new tab 25% tariffs on electricity entering the U.S. Trump said in a post on Truth Social that he had instructed his commerce secretary to add an additional 25% tariff on the products that would take effect Wednesday morning. "Also, Canada must immediately reduce the Anti-American Farmer Tariffs of 250% to 390% on various U.S. dairy products, which have long been considered...
US job openings rose in January, indicating steady demand for workers as the Trump administration takes office. Available job openings rose to 7.74 million from a revised 7.51 million in December, according to monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics released Tuesday. The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 7.6 million openings. (Newsmaker23) Source: Bloomberg
The U.S. economy is set for weaker growth and higher inflation as the tariff impact is likely to be greater than previously feared, economists at Goldman Sachs said in a recent. "Larger tariffs are also likely to hit GDP harder. We have reduced our 2025 Q4/Q4 GDP growth forecast to 1.7%, from 2.2% previously," Goldman Sachs economists said. Goldman Sachs updated its economic forecasts to reflect a new assumption of larger tariffs that raise the effective tariff rate by 10%, compared with a prior assumption of 4.3% . The White House raised tariffs on China, Canada, and Mexico but then...
The Federal Reserve (Fed) will hold a two-day monetary policy meeting next week and announce its decision on March 19. Until then, the Fed will be in a blackout period, during which policymakers and officials will not be allowed to comment on the policy outlook. According to the CME FedWatch Tool, the market sees little chance of a 25 basis point (bps) rate cut next week. The probability of a rate cut in May currently stands at around 40%. Meanwhile, the Fed FXS Sentiment Index (FXS) remains in neutral territory, just below 100. Following its January meeting, the Fed left its policy...
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Friday that his country is stopping all federal funding to South Africa, but South Africa responded by saying it would not engage in "megaphone diplomacy". Trump had already signed an executive order to cut all U.S. financial assistance to South Africa last month, citing disapproval of its land policy and of its genocide case at the International Court of Justice against Washington's ally, Israel. "To go a step further, any Farmer (with family!) from South Africa, seeking to flee that country for reasons of safety, will be invited into the United States...
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said it remains to be seen if the Trump administration's tariff plans will prove to be inflationary, mapping out a checklist of things that could cause new import taxes to lead to more persistent price pressures. "In a simple case where we know it's a one-time thing, the textbook would say look through it," with no need for the Fed to respond with tighter monetary policy, Powell said at a question-and-answer session during an economic forum in New York City. "But you also want to be sure of a couple things," he continued. "If it turns into a series of...
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....