The S&P 500 rose 0.8%, the Nasdaq rose 0.6%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average added 300 points, with technology stocks outperforming after reports that Nvidia (+1.5%) plans to begin shipping its H200 AI chip to China in mid-February. Meanwhile, Oracle added 3.2% and Micron Technology grew 4%. The energy sector also saw gains, with leading stocks like Exxon Mobil and Chevron rising 1.3% and 1.4%, respectively, as oil prices rallied on renewed supply concerns related to US action against Venezuela, while non-essential consumer goods and materials sectors posted modest gains. These...
The Bank of England kept its key interest rate on hold at 4.25% during its Thursday meeting, with economists expecting the central bank to wait until August before it cuts again. Six out of nine of the BOE's monetary policy committee opted to hold rates with three opting for a 25-basis-points cut. "Underlying UK GDP [gross domestic product] growth appears to have remained weak, and the labour market has continued to loosen, leading to clearer signs that a margin of slack has opened up over time," the central bank said in a statement. "Measures of pay growth have continued to moderate and,...
The Swiss National Bank (SNB) cut its policy rate by 25 bps to 0% in June 2025, as expected, setting borrowing costs at zero for the first time since negative rates in late 2022. The move came amid easing inflationary pressures and a weakening global economic outlook. Consumer prices in Switzerland fell by 0.1% in May, marking the first decline in four years, mainly driven by lower prices in tourism and oil products. The SNB now projects average inflation at 0.2% for 2025, 0.5% for 2026, and 0.7% for 2027. Swiss GDP also posted strong growth in the first quarter of 2025, partly supported...
The United States (US) Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it left the policy rate, federal funds rate, unchanged at the range of 4.25%-4.5% following the June policy meeting. This decision came in line with the market expectation. Source: Fxstreet
Markets expect the Fed to keep rates on hold today. Recent data has surprised in a dovish direction, but projections and the dot plot will shift more hawkish. The ‘hard' data from the projections likely gives a better signal of the Fed's rate trajectory than the ‘soft' data from Powell's press conference, ABN AMRO's economist Rogier Quaedvlieg reports. Fed to hold rates, but dot plot set for hawkish shift "Tonight the Fed will keep rates on hold. In the press conference, Powell will likely repeat the messaging of last time: they will consider the totality of the Trump administration's...
Bank of Japan (BoJ) Governor Kazuo Ueda reaffirmed the central bank's commitment to raising interest rates if underlying inflation nears its 2% target. While core consumer inflation has stayed above 2% for three years, demand-driven pressures remain subdued. Ueda told parliament the BoJ is keeping real interest rates negative to support stable, sustained inflation. "Once we have more conviction that underlying inflation will approach or hover around 2%, we will continue to raise rates," he said. The BoJ ended its decade-long stimulus last year, lifting short-term rates to 0.5% in January as...