Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said on Thursday he continues to believe the U.S. central bank should cut interest rates at the end of this month amid mounting risks to the economy and the strong likelihood that tariff-induced inflation will not drive a persistent rise in price pressures. "It makes sense to cut the FOMC's policy rate by 25 basis points two weeks from now," Waller told a gathering of the Money Marketeers of New York University. "I see the hard and soft data on economic activity and the labor market as consistent: The economy is still growing, but its momentum...
Asia-Pacific markets climbed Thursday, after U.S. markets soared on the back of an unexpected decline in core inflation numbers in December and strong bank earnings.Korea's central bank surprised market watchers by keeping benchmark rates unchanged at 3%. Economists polled by Reuters had expected the Bank of Korea to cut its policy rate by 25 basis points.South Korea's Kospi was up 1.16% while the small-cap Kosdaq index was up 1.65%, following the announcement.Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 was trading up 0.61% while the Topix gained 0.23%. Japan's annual producer price index climbed 3.8% in...
The Nikkei 225 index rose 0.8% to around 38,750, while the broader Topix index gained 0.6% to 2,706 on Thursday, recovering some losses from earlier in the week and tracking a strong performance on Wall Street. U.S. stocks surged overnight, boosted by a surprise drop in core inflation and solid bank earnings. However, investors remained cautious about Japanese equities after Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda indicated on Wednesday that the central bank would discuss the possibility of raising interest rates at its next policy meeting next week. Meanwhile, data showed that Japanese producer...
Producer prices in Japan increased by 3.8% yoy in December 2024, keeping the same pace as in the previous month and aligning with market consensus. It was the 46th straight month of producer inflation, remaining at its highest level since June 2023, as cost continued to grow for transport equipment (1.7% vs 1.6% in November), beverages & foods (1.9% vs 2.1%), iron & steel (-0.1% vs -0.1%), electrical machinery (4.7% vs 4.1%), production machinery (1.8% vs 1.4%), general-purpose machinery (4.3% vs 4.3%), metal products (3.8% vs 4.0%), other manufacturing (3.6% vs 3.8%), plastics (3.6%...
U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday, with all three major indexes registering their biggest daily percentage gains in more than two months, as lower-than-expected December core inflation data and solid earnings from major U.S. banks fueled a rally. The Labor Department said the consumer price index (CPI) increased the most in nine months as energy costs rose, although a measure of underlying inflation pressures subsided. Data on Tuesday showed the producer price index (PPI) rose less than expected. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 106.45 points, or 1.82%, to end at...
European markets closed higher on Wednesday as investors assessed cooler-than-expected inflation prints from the U.S. and U.K. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 1.3% higher, snapping a three-day losing streak and clocking its best performance since August 2024. All sectors were in the green, led by retail stocks, which rose 2.7%. London's FTSE 100 gained 1.2% and U.K. government bond yields dropped sharply after official data showed U.K. inflation fell to 2.5% in December. Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated the reading would remain unchanged from the 2.6% print of November. The...
According to a statement by the Federal Reserve (Fed), Fed Chair Jerome Powell met with United States (US) President Donald Trump on Thursday, where the head of the Fed reiterated that the Fed's...
The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) maintained its cash rate at 4.1% during its April meeting, holding borrowing costs unchanged after slashing 25 bps in the February meeting, aligning with market...