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...
In remarks from the Oval Office on Friday, U.S. President Donald Trump discussed with disgust the massive tariffs Canada has on dairy and lumber and indicated that reciprocal tariffs from the U.S. could be "coming today" or next week. "They'll be met with the exact same tariff unless they drop it, and that's what reciprocal means," Trump said. "We may do it as early as today, or we'll wait till Monday or Tuesday, but that's what we're going to do. We're going to do, we're going to charge." The comments from Trump follow the 25% tariffs Trump placed on most goods from Canada this week....
US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) rose by 151,000 in February, the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reported on Friday. Source: FXstreet
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...
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,...