The U.S. Senate will vote again on Friday on conflicting plans between Democrats and Republicans to end the government shutdown, which is now entering its third day, though there are no signs that either plan will pass. Lawmakers appear to have made no progress toward a deal that would allow them to continue funding the government, and Democrats and Republicans have spent the past few days blaming each other for their failure to maintain government funding beyond October 1, the start of the fiscal year. Democrats say any funding package must also extend pandemic-era healthcare subsidies...
US President Donald Trump hit markets with yet another structural pivot on his tariff agenda, announcing some temporary exemptions for certain sectors, as well as getting his 25% tariffs against Mexico and Canada muddled up with his separate "reciprocal tariff" strategy that is currently slated to come into effect in April. While giving comments to reporters at the White House, President Trump meandered back and forth through several topics. Details on reciprocal tariffs remain almost entirely absent, other than the Trump administration's insistence that they are definitely happening next...
U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday said Mexico won't be required to pay tariffs on any goods that fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement on trade until April 2, but made no mention of a reprieve for Canada despite his Commerce secretary saying a comparable exemption was likely. "After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement," Trump wrote on Truth Social. "This Agreement is until April 2nd." Earlier on Thursday, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick...
During her press conference, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde outlined the ECB's decision to cut key interest rates by 25 basis points at the March policy meeting. She elaborated on the rationale behind the move, emphasizing its role in supporting economic stability. Lagarde also addressed questions from the media, providing insights into the ECB's outlook and future policy direction.ECB press conference key highlight. "Consumer confidence remains fragile"."Services are resilient"."Uncertainty is holding back investment"."Surveys suggest that employment growth is...
U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell last week, returning to the stale level seen at the start of the year. Initial claims fell 21,000 to 221,000 in the week ended March 1. The median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of economists was for 233,000 applications.Continuing claims, a proxy for the number of people receiving benefits, rose to 1.9 million in the previous week, according to Labor Department data released Thursday. (Newsmaker) Source: Bloomberg
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey urged the United States on Wednesday to settle its concerns about the global economy through dialogue rather than the kind of import tariffs that U.S. President Donald Trump has imposed this week. Bailey, speaking to British lawmakers, said he had addressed the importance of open trade at a meeting of Group of 20 central bankers and finance ministers last week in South Africa that was not attended by new U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. "If you think the world economy is somehow out of balance, the place to address those balances is in a...
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,...