If it just seems like the first Friday of the month wasn't the same without being able to pore through the Bureau of Labor Statistics' hotly watched monthly jobs report, don't worry. You probably didn't miss much. While the BLS has gone dark with the shutdown in Washington, other reports outside the government data suggest the labor market just plodded along in September. The Dow Jones consensus forecast was for growth of 51,000 in nonfarm payrolls with the unemployment rate holding steady at 4.3%. High-frequency data that includes job postings, private payrolls and state-by-state figures...
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said Tuesday morning that it had identified a missile that was launched from Iran into southern Israel some time ago. Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said Tuesday morning that if Israel stops its "illegal aggression" against the Iranian people by 4 a.m. Tehran time (0030 GMT) on Tuesday, Iran has no intention of continuing its response after that, according to Reuters. Market reaction At the time of writing, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was trading 1.25% lower on the day and was trading at $66.15. Gold (XAU/USD) was trading 0.62% lower on the day...
Iran fired missiles at a US air base in Qatar after promising it would respond "proportionately and decisively" to President Donald Trump's weekend airstrikes on three of its nuclear facilities.Qatar said the barrage at Al Udeid base the biggest such US facility in the Middle East was intercepted and that there were no casualties. Al Udeid is the regional headquarters for US Central Command, which oversees the American military in the region, and is home to several thousand US service-members, though many staff had been evacuated. Oil prices fell immediately after the attack, with Brent...
A fact-finding mission mandated by the United Nations said on Monday that some of Israel's strikes on Iran may have broken international humanitarian law, citing the killing of civilians in an apartment block and three aid workers in Tehran. Israel began airstrikes on Iran in a surprise attack on June 13 that killed many of Iran's top commanders and has intensified attacks since, prompting an exodus from the capital. The United States joined on Sunday by hitting Iran's underground nuclear sites. "Among those killed in Tehran were dozens of residents of an apartment complex and three...
FOMC Governor Michelle Bowman indicated that if inflation pressures stay contained, she would be in favour of lowering the policy rate at the next meeting to align it more closely with its neutral setting and maintain a healthy labour market. Open to cutting rates as soon as the July FOMC meeting if inflation pressures stay contained.Should put more weight on downside risks to the job market going forward. It is time to consider adjusting the policy rate.Trade policy only likely to have ‘minimal impacts' on inflation. Data not showing much impact from trade policy shifts.Government policy...
The economic activity in the US' private sector continued to expand at a healthy pace in June, with the S&P Global Composite Purchasing Managers Index coming in at 52.8 (flash estimate), down slightly from 53 in May. In the same period, the Manufacturing PMI held steady at 52, while the Services PMI edged lower to 53.1 from 53.7. Both of these prints came in better than analysts' estimates. Assessing the survey's findings, "the June flash PMI data indicated that the US economy continued to grow at the end of the second quarter, but that the outlook remains uncertain while inflationary...
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. government shut down much of its operations on Wednesday as deep partisan divisions prevented Congress and the White House from reaching a funding deal, setting off what could be a long,...