Renewed tensions between the United States and Russia have resurfaced following an incident involving an oil tanker, sparking market concerns about potential disruptions to global energy supplies. Washington's move, associated with tightening oversight and enforcement of sanctions on Russian oil shipments, is viewed by Moscow as provocative and could worsen relations between the two countries. Russia views these actions as an attempt by the United States to suppress Russian energy exports and strengthen its dominance in the global oil market. Meanwhile, Washington argues that these measures...
The U.S. Federal Reserve's seemingly locked-in path to a soft landing, already roiled by the arrival of the Trump administration, may be growing even more complicated as evidence of consumer caution about spending starts to align with new inflation risks and another jump in inflation expectations. Consumer spending and inflation data for February accentuated the point, with spending near zero once adjusted for inflation and a key measure of inflation itself increasing. "No matter how you want to slice it, it's shaping up to be a very weak quarter for real spending, and it may end up being...
The US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index increased by 0.3% month-over-month in February 2025, maintaining the same pace as the previous two months, and in line with expectations. Prices for goods rose 0.2%, below 0.5% in January and prices for services increased 0.4%, above 0.2% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the core PCE index, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.4%, the most since January 2024, above 0.3% in the previous month and forecasts of 0.3%. Food prices steadied (vs 0.3% in January) while prices for energy goods and services were up...
Richmond Federal Reserve President Thomas Barkin said Thursday the current level of monetary policy is in a "good place," in a further sign the central bank is leaning toward keeping rates steady at a time of rising tariff-induced uncertainty. "We are waiting for the fog to clear," Barkin said in prepared remarks for an economics lecture at Washington and Lee University. "With the labor market still solid and inflation still above target, our moderately restrictive stance is a good place to be." The Richmond Fed president did say, however, that if "conditions start to shift, we are well...
Initial jobless claims in the United States decreased by 1,000 to 224,000 in the week ending March 22, marginally below market expectations of 225,000, to remain at historically low levels. In the meantime, recurring claims fell by 25,000 in the second week of the month. The results continued to indicate that the US hosts a robust labor market despite the prolonged period of restrictive monetary policy and the pessimistic batch of soft data released during the first quarter of the year. In the meantime, unemployment claims filed under programs for Federal government employees, which have...
President Trump said he would impose a 25% tariff on global auto imports into the U.S., making good on his pledge to sanction foreign car and truck manufacturers. "What we're going to do is we're going to put a 25% tariff on all cars that are not made in the U.S.," Trump said Wednesday in the Oval Office, appearing to rule out possible exemptions for countries such as Canada and Mexico, which have free-trade agreements with the U.S. The U.S. will begin imposing auto tariffs on April 3, Trump said, a day after he announced a broader set of trade actions. The so-called reciprocal tariffs,...
Asian stock markets fell in unison on Thursday, following Wall Street's decline. A brief rally in tech stocks led by Nvidia quickly faded, prompting investors to turn away from riskier assets like...
European stock indices closed marginally lower on Wednesday as equities took a breather from their recent strong momentum, while investors continued to assess the outlook for the ECB's policy this...
The upcoming Supreme Court ruling on the legality of President Donald Trump's massive tariffs, which rocked markets in April, is one of the next major tests for US stocks and bonds.
Equity markets...