The proposal would cut the risk factor from Fed oversight and bar supervisors from pushing banks to cut off disfavored businesses, including in crypto.
The Federal Reserve must avoid easing its monetary policy further as inflation remains a key concern among businesses and consumers, Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee said Tuesday. Given the US economy's "solid" growth in 2025 and a largely steady labor market, Goolsbee said the focus for near-term Fed policy decisions should shift back to inflation that remains well above the 2% target.
US consumer confidence improved this month as labor market concerns eased somewhat, while inflation expectations remained elevated, the Conference Board said Tuesday. The consumer confidence index rose by 2.2 points to 91.2 in February from last month's upwardly revised 89.
Quebec's gross domestic product in November fell 0.3% month over month, marking the second consecutive monthly decline and the eighth contraction in the last 10 months, said National Bank of Canada. The performance of the Quebec economy also contrasts with that of the country as a whole, as Canadian GDP remained relatively stable in November, noted the bank.
Nigeria's central bank Tuesday said its Monetary Policy Committee decided to reduce the Monetary Policy Rate by 50bps to 26.50% MT Newswires does not provide investment advice.
With Finland and Sweden in NATO and a major rise in defense spending, Europe should be a much safer place than it used to be four years ago when Russia attacked Ukraine, said Berenberg. After all, the combined gross domestic product of the European Union, the United Kingdom and Norway is roughly ten times the size of the Russian economy, noted the bank.
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 91.2 in February from 89.0 in January, above a reading of 87.1 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg.
Governor Tiff Macklem's recent speech suggests the Bank of Canada is sticking to a script in insisting the recent weak economic growth is largely a reflection of structural shifts in the Canadian economy linked to United States tariffs and demographic change, says CIBC.
With recent economic and inflation data cooling off, the pricing of 2026 rate hikes has been stopped, and traders now see a chance of a Bank of Canada cut this year, said National Bank of Canada. But for National, the BoC is more likely to be sidelined all year as economic uncertainty and expecations around mixed data give the central bank conflicting signals.
The Case-Shiller National Home Price index fell by 0.3% in December before seasonal adjustment following a 0.1% decrease in November. National home prices were up 1.3% year-over-year, down from 1.4% in November. The 10-city index and 20-city index both declined by 0.1% in December.
The FHFA's measure of home prices rose by 0.1% in December after an upwardly revised 0.7% increase in the previous month, below a 0.3% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Prices rose in six of the nine regions, were down in two and unchanged in one region. Overall prices were up 1.8% from a year earlier in December.
The Canadian province of Nova Scotia is projecting a $1.2 billion deficit, representing 2.2% of gross domestic product, in FY26-27, which will be little changed from the prior year, notes Bank of Montreal. The province, BMO also notes, doesn't anticipate returning to balance across the four-year forecast horizon, with the shortfall narrowing to a still-sizeable $800 million by FY29-30.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said the central bank should focus on getting inflation to its 2% target before making any additional cuts to short-term interest rates.
The US dollar rose against its major trading partners early Tuesday before an extremely busy day of economic data releases and appearances by Federal Reserve officials, starting with Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee at 8:00 am ET. The Philadelphia Fed's nonmanufacturing index for February is due to be released at 8:30 am ET, followed by weekly Redbook same-store sales at 8:55 am ET.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday that continued improvement in the labor market, along with further progress on inflation, would tilt his decision toward a pause in interest rates at the central bank's March monetary policy meeting.
Fed Governor Christopher Waller said that he could support a further rate pause at the March FOMC meeting if the February employment report confirms that the labor market stability remains but would advocate for a further rate reduction if that report shows that weakness has resumed.
Federal Reserve Gov. Christopher Waller said during an appearance Monday his decision on whether or not to support a cut to short-term interest rates depends on labor market indicators.
Peru's central bank left its policy rate unchanged at 4.25% last week, as expected, said Deutsche Bank. BCRP kept the policy statement largely unchanged, noting that inflation remains around the target and the economy is performing close to its potential, noted the bank.
The Bond Buyer's 2026 Predictions Report shows professionals expect growth for the year ahead, but are cautious about changes coming to the central bank.
Thailand's central bank is expected to keep its repurchase rate unchanged at 1.25% on Wednesday, said Scotiabank. A small minority expects a reduction, noted the bank. When it cut by 25bps at its last meeting in December, the BoT indicated a dovish bias and a willingness to adjust further while downgrading expected gross domestic product growth.
Israel's central bank Monday said its Monetary Committee decided to leave the interest rate unchanged at 4.0%. Morgan Stanley and UBS had expected before the policy decision a 25bps rate cut to 3.75%. "Geopolitical uncertainty has resurfaced in recent days in view of a potential confrontation with Iran, and Israel's risk premium increased slightly," wrote the BoI in its policy statement.
First Solar (FSLR) said Monday a new economic impact study projects its US operations will support more than 39,000 jobs and contribute about $7.8 billion to gross domestic product annually by 2027. The study was conducted by the Kathleen Babineaux Blanco Public Policy Center at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette using the company's reported and forecast US spending, First Solar (FSLR) said.
Canada's balance of payments data for the fourth quarter will be published on Thursday and could show the current account deficit shrinking from $9.68 billion to $5.25 billion, says National Bank of Canada. A narrowing of the goods shortfall will likely have been only partially offset by a smaller services surplus, noted the bank.
Canada will release on Friday fresh gross domestic product figures for Q4, the month of December and the flash reading for January 2026, said Scotiabank. The bank noted it expects the readings to be "soft." For Q4, Scotiabank predicts about 0.5% quarter over quarter contraction at a seasonally adjusted and annualized rate.
Morgan Stanley said it forecast Germany's headline consumer price index at 2.0% year over year in February, after 2.1% year in January. The weaker CPI pace is expected from lower services, energy and food inflation, noted the bank. Germany is scheduled to release CPI for February on Friday. MT Newswires does not provide investment advice.
In Canada, the release of Q4 GDP data is likely to attract a lot of attention next Friday. Although it probably remained positive, growth in final domestic demand may have slowed during the quarter, with a rebound in investment in machinery and equipment having likely been offset in part by lower spending in the residential and non-residential structures segments, according to National Bank.
Dallas Fed President Lorie Logan said that she "cautiously optimistic" that inflation will slow and said that monetary policy is positioned to handle any economic outcomes. Recent comments of note: San Francisco Fed President Mary Daly said that the current stance of monetary policy is in "a good place" to wait and see how the economy evolves before taking additional steps to lower interest rates.
The advance estimate of Q4 GDP showed a 1.4% gain, slower than a 4.4% gain in Q3, with a slowdown in personal consumption growth to 2.4% from 3.5%. Government spending was subtraction from Q4 GDP, likely due to the government shutdown in the quarter.
US consumer sentiment held largely steady this month, with high prices still a widespread concern even as year-ahead inflation expectations hit a 13-month low, final University of Michigan survey results showed Friday. The main sentiment index ticked up to 56.6 in February -- the highest since August -- from 56.4 last month.
According to CIBC's Avery Shenfeld, it won't be a surprise to either markets or the Bank of Canada if Q4 GDP next Friday shows a slight negative, but he said it underscores that we need to see a return to growth in Q1 for the central bank to stick with its "on hold" stance.
US equity indexes traded mixed as the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's worldwide tariffs, the economy grew at a slower pace than forecast for Q4, and the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation gauge turned hot. The Nasdaq Composite rose 0.7% to 22,843.3, and the S&P 500 climbed 0.4% to 6,892.1 after midday Friday.
US equity indexes traded mixed at midday Friday after the Supreme Court struck down President Donald Trump's punitive tariffs on international trade partners, and the economy grew at a slower pace than forecast for Q4.
The US Supreme Court on Friday invalidated President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act. Trump invoked the IEEPA to impose sweeping levies last year in a bid to reduce the country's trade deficit and boost American manufacturing. The Supreme Court, in a 6-3 ruling, struck down Trump's tariffs, according to media reports.
US consumer spending growth unexpectedly held steady in December, while the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation metric accelerated more than Wall Street's estimates to 3% year over year, delayed government data showed Friday. Personal consumption expenditures rose 0.4% in December, unchanged from the month prior, the Bureau of Economic Analysis said in a report.
The University of Michigan consumer sentiment index was revised downwards Friday to a reading of 56.6 for February from the 57.3 print in the preliminary estimate, compared with expectations for no revision in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. That was higher than the final reading of 56.4 in January.
US stocks look set to open lower in Friday's trading session as investors parse GDP growth that fell short of analyst forecasts, and inflation data that rose slightly more than expected. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were off 0.3%, S&P 500 futures declined 0.4%, and Nasdaq futures were 0.5% lower.
Rosenberg Research said it noted with interest that the speculators in the CME futures & options pits turned net bullish on the Canadian dollar last week for the first time since August 2023. It seemed this was based on a belief that the Bank of Canada was done easing, noted Rosenberg Research. Rosenberg added that it was "skeptical" on this and would likely bet against this consensus.
US economic growth, measured by gross domestic product, rose by 1.4% in Q4 after a 4.4% gain in the previous quarter, slower than a 2.8% increase expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg. Personal consumption expenditures rose by 2.4% after a 3.5% gain, right in line with a 2.4% gain expected. Government spending was subtraction from Q4 GDP, likely due to the government shutdown in the quarter.
US stock futures are tracking slightly lower in Friday's premarket session as investors await key GDP and inflation data coming out later in the morning. The Dow Jones Industrial Average futures, S&P 500 futures, and Nasdaq futures were off 0.2% each.
The US dollar was mixed against its major trading partners early Friday -- up versus the euro and yen, down versus the pound and Canadian dollar -- ahead of the first look at Q4 GDP and personal income, spending and price data for December, all due to be released at 8:30 am ET.
Canada's new home price index fell a "heavy" 0.4% month over month in January, and was down an even larger 0.6% month over month for the "house only" part -- in other words, not including land prices, said Bank of Montreal. The latter feeds into the monthly consumer price index with a one-month delay, and that large drop will as such dampen next month's result, noted the bank.
In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.
Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.
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