The Bank of England's MPC voted 5-4 to keep Bank Rate at 4% at its November 5 meeting, in line with expectations. Four members favored a 25 bps cut to 3.75%, reflecting growing support for easing. Policymakers noted that CPI inflation has peaked and underlying disinflation is developing, aided by still-restrictive policy, lower wage growth, and easing services inflation. A sluggish economy and increasing labor market slack are also strengthening disinflation. The MPC said the risks to achieving the 2% target are now more balanced: inflation persistence has become less of a concern, while...
US President Donald Trump plans to impose tariffs of over 10% on smaller countries, including nations in Africa and the Caribbean, as the Associated Press reported. "We'll probably set one tariff for all of them," Trump told reporters on Tuesday. He added that it could be "a little over 10% tariff on goods from at least 100 nations." At the same time, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said that the nations with goods being taxed at these rates would be in Africa and the Caribbean—places that generally do relatively modest levels of trade with the US and would be relatively insignificant...
President Donald Trump on Tuesday said the U.S. would impose a 19% tariff on goods from Indonesia under a new agreement with the Southeast Asian country and said more deals were in the works as he continued to press for what he views as better terms with trading partners and a path to reducing a massive U.S. trade deficit. The pact with the relatively minor U.S. trading partner is among the handful struck so far by the Trump administration ahead of an August 1 deadline for tariffs on most U.S. imports to rise again, and it came as the top U.S. trading partner - the European Union - readied...
U.S. consumer prices increased by the most in five months in June amid higher costs for some goods, suggesting tariffs were starting to have an impact on inflation and potentially keeping the Federal Reserve on the sidelines until September. Softening demand as consumers hunker down, however, is limiting price increases for services like airline fares and hotel and motel rooms, keeping underlying inflation muted for now. That trend, if sustained, could ease concerns of a broad-based rise in price pressures from tariffs. Nonetheless, economists generally expect the tariff-induced rise in...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced a trade deal with Indonesia, the latest pact in a bid to cement better terms with trading partners and reduce a massive trade deficit, even as the European Union readied retaliatory measures should talks between Washington and its top trading partner fail. "Great deal, for everybody, just made with Indonesia. I dealt directly with their highly respected President. DETAILS TO FOLLOW!!!" Trump said in a post on Truth Social. Indonesia's total trade with the U.S. - totalling just under $40 billion in 2024 - does not rank in the top 15, but it...
President Donald Trump's renewed calls for Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's resignation have prompted investors to protect portfolios against the risk of higher inflation, as a central bank more willing to lower interest rates could fuel price rises and make lenders demand higher compensation to hold bonds. While a Fed chief more friendly to cutting rates could be mixed for equities in the short term, it would translate into a weaker U.S. dollar, increased volatility in the Treasuries market and higher longer-term rates, meaning more expensive borrowing costs for mortgages and...
Asia-Pacific markets traded higher, tracking Wall Street gains overnight.
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 rose 0.41% after hitting a fresh record high on Thursday, while the Topix added 0.61%. South...
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. Supreme Court's tough questioning of President Donald Trump's global tariffs has fueled growing speculation that they will be overturned, but it also raises the potential for further...