By Jamie McGeever. Accelerating inflation in the U.S. and beyond is leaving the Federal Reserve and other central banks with an acute problem - negative real interest rates. Unexpectedly strong U.S. inflation data last week pushed the real, inflation-adjusted fed funds rate below zero for the first time in three years.
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Chile's economy contracted 0.3% in the first quarter from the previous three-month period, central bank data showed on Monday, while economists in a Reuters poll had predicted a 0.2% decrease. On an annual basis, gross domestic product declined 0.5% in the period, missing expectations of 0.1% growth.
Brazil's economic activity grew 1.3% in the first quarter from the previous three months, central bank data showed on Monday, despite a sharper-than-expected contraction in March. The IBC-Br index, a proxy for gross domestic product, fell 0.7% in March from February on a seasonally adjusted basis, compared with a 0.2% drop expected in a Reuters poll.
The world's major economies have seen their debt levels surge in recent years, while ever-increasing spending demands - from ageing populations to climate change and defence - add to the pressure. With no end in sight to the conflict, the pressure is building as traders bet on central bank rate hikes and long-term borrowing costs march higher.
Economic activity in Brazil fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.7% in March from the previous month, according to a central bank index on Monday, a steeper drop than the 0.2% contraction expected by economists polled by Reuters. The IBC-Br index, a proxy for gross domestic product, expanded by 1.3% in the first quarter.
The US dollar fell against its major trading partners early Monday, except for a gain versus the yen, with the focus this week on minutes of the April 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting to be released on Wednesday.
Euro zone bond yields rose on Monday amid a broader global bond selloff, with investors worried that higher energy prices amid the Middle East conflict could fuel inflation and prompt further interest rate hikes.
* Central bank seeks 30% offtake in dore form for improved traceability, official. * Miners concerned over proposed discount, citing unclear terms. * GoldBod designated gatekeeper for gold exports under revamped programme. By Maxwell Akalaare Adombila.
After eight years of friction with the White House, a global pandemic, and a fight with high inflation, the U.S. Federal Reserve begins a new era with former governor Kevin Warsh soon to be sworn in as chair. It will be a new era for President Donald Trump as well. In 2016, Powell was only a few months into his first term when Trump began berating him, annoyed at the Fed's interest-rate hikes.
* Warsh inherits high inflation, above Fed's 2% target, with pressure to address price stability. * Unemployment remains low at 4.3%, but debate continues over labor market strength and risks. * Warsh expected to consider shrinking Fed balance sheet, facing complex policy and market challenges. By Howard Schneider.
Syria will take part in a closed-door session with G7 finance ministers and central bank governors in Paris on Monday, a person familiar with the matter said, in a sign of its growing status less than two years after the ousting of Bashar al-Assad.
Led by broad increases across the services sector, the U.K. economy expanded in March, according to data from CoStar (CSGP), a global leading provider of online real estate marketplaces, information and analytics in the property markets. This press release features multimedia.
U.S. President Donald Trump conceded in an interview with Fortune magazine published on Monday that he may have to wait until the war with Iran was over for more interest rate cuts. "You can't really look at the figures until the war is over," he said.
zerohash europe B.V., the European subsidiary of zerohash, the leading infrastructure provider for crypto, stablecoin, and tokenized assets, has received an Electronic Money Institution license from De Nederlandsche Bank, the Dutch Central Bank. zerohash has been successfully serving customers and operating across the European Economic Area under its MiCAR license, which it received in October ...
* Finance ministers and central bankers to discuss inflation, volatility. * France puts deep-seated global economic imbalances on the agenda. * Lescure says G7 offers opportunity for frank dialogue. * Meeting follows US-China summit that yielded few economic breakthroughs. By Leigh Thomas, David Lawder and Makiko Yamazaki.
Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni has signed into law a contentious measure that he says aims to curb foreign influence in the country despite heavy criticism from quarters such as the central bank, warning it could trigger "economic disaster".
* Companies face higher costs, supply disruptions, and operational changes. * Airlines, automakers, and other companies warn of profit hits. * Extra costs not yet showing up in earnings, analysts say. * Europe and Asia most affected by oil-price surge. By Medha Singh, Deborah Mary Sophia and Bernadette Hogg.
* Tier-one cities see price rise, smaller cities and developers struggle. * Government incentives, state-backed purchases aim to stabilise market. By Liangping Gao, Yukun Zhang and Ryan Woo.
China's growth lost momentum in April, with industrial output cooling and retail sales sinking to over three-year lows as the world's second-biggest economy wrestled with higher energy costs from the Iran war and persistently weak domestic demand.
* China's April industrial output growth slowest since July 2023. * Consumer demand stays weak, as retail sales rise just 0.2% * Beijing unlikely to add immediate stimulus, economist says. * Trump visit to China eases trade tensions but produces few surprises.
China's industrial output grew 4.1% in April from a year earlier, slowing from the 5.7% pace in March, official data showed on Monday. The data released by the National Bureau of Statistics missed expectations for a 5.9% increase in a Reuters poll.
China's new home prices extended their decline in April, but fell at the slowest monthly pace in a year, official data showed on Monday, offering an early sign of improvement even as housing demand remained subdued despite efforts by cities across the country to boost sales and shore up sentiment.
Gold prices fell on Monday to their
lowest point in more than a month, as Middle East tensions
pushed oil prices higher, fuelling inflation fears and
reinforcing expectations of higher-for-longer ...
Japanese government bond yields surged on Monday, with the benchmark 10-year yield reaching levels last seen in October 1996, extending a global debt selloff as pressure mounts on central banks to raise rates to contain inflation. The yield on the 10-year JGB climbed 7.5 basis points to 2.775%, after earlier touching an intraday high of 2.800%, a level last seen in October 1996.
G7 finance ministers gathering in Paris on Monday will try to find common ground on tackling global economic tensions and coordinating critical raw material supplies, even as geopolitical differences threaten to test the group's cohesion.
Gold price continued its downward trend and is about to flash a death cross pattern as inflation jumps and top ETF outflows continued. American investors are dumping their gold ETF assets. These outflows have increased as odds that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates ease.
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday said it has named Jerome Powell as chair pro tempore until Kevin Warsh is sworn in as the new head of the U.S. central bank. * Warsh is expected to be sworn in soon by U.S. President Donald Trump but no date has been announced. * Powell's eight-year run as Fed leader formally expired on Friday.
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday said it has named Jerome Powell as chair pro tempore until Kevin Warsh is sworn in as the new head of the U.S. central bank. -- Warsh is expected to be sworn in soon by U.S. President Donald Trump but no date has been announced. -- Powell's eight-year run as Fed leader formally expired on Friday.
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday said it has named Jerome Powell as chair pro tempore until Kevin Warsh is sworn in as the new head of the U.S. central bank.
The Federal Reserve Board on Friday said it has named Jerome Powell as chair pro tempore until Kevin Warsh is sworn in as the new head of the U.S. central bank.
Rate hikes appear to be more realistic following this week's hotter-than-expected consumer price index and producer price index data, said Kevin McGuigan, director at Municipal Market Analytics.
US annual consumer inflation is expected to reach 6% in the ongoing quarter and remain above 2% in the long term, a poll of economists by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia showed Friday. The headline consumer price index is expected to average 6% in the second quarter, according to the Fed branch's latest quarterly Survey of Professional Forecasters.
The near-vertical AI-driven rally that pushed Wall Street to record highs ? one of the fastest and most powerful snapback advances in modern market history ? finally collided with a new reality this week: inflation is reaccelerating, and the bond market is beginning to price in the risk of another Federal Reserve rate hike.
RBC Capital Markets said Tuesday's April CPI report will be the highlight for next week, with the headline print likely to accelerate while broader price pressures should remain contained. In its CAD Weekly Soundbites report, RBC said it and consensus expect April CPI to rise 3.1% year-over-year, compared with 2.4% previously, as headline price pressures should escalate from higher energy costs.
US industrial production rebounded more than projected in April, buoyed the manufacturing and utilities categories, Federal Reserve data showed Friday. Industrial output rose 0.7% last month following a revised 0.3% drop in March, the Fed said.
The Federal Reserve said Friday it has terminated its enforcement actions with UBS Group (UBS), Credit Suisse and their subsidiaries. UBS declined to comment to MT Newswires. Price: 45.46, Change: -0.89, Percent Change: -1.92. MT Newswires does not provide investment advice.
The Federal Reserve said Friday it has terminated its enforcement actions with UBS Group (UBS), Credit Suisse and their subsidiaries. UBS didn't immediately reply to a request for comment from MT Newswires. Price: 45.64, Change: -0.72, Percent Change: -1.54. MT Newswires does not provide investment advice.
National Bank of Canada on Thursday reiterated its sector-perform rating on the shares of Lithium Americas (LAC) and lowered its price target to C$7.25 from C$7.50 following the company's first-quarter results.
* Inflationary pressures fuel rate hike expectations. * Rising US Treasury yields and inflation fears drive dollar strength. * Fed's Williams does not see need to change rate policy. By Chuck Mikolajczak.
National Bank of Canada on Thursday increased Northland Power's price target to C$28 from $27 with an outperform rating. The company reported an adjusted EBITDA of C$427 million in the first quarter, below the bank's forecast of $454 million but in line with the consensus forecast of $424 million.
New York manufacturing activity grew at the fastest pace in more than four years this month amid robust new orders, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported Friday. The Empire State Manufacturing Survey's general business conditions index climbed to 19.6 in May, the highest reading since April 2022, from 11 last month, the Fed branch said.
U.S. factory production posted its largest increase in 14 months in April, driven by motor vehicles and demand for technology goods amid an artificial intelligence spending boom, but supply disruptions from the war with Iran cast a shadow over the manufacturing sector.
XRP could be preparing for a "macro wave three" breakout if Bitcoin confirms a move above key resistance near the $94,000 region. In a May 14 podcast, trader Cryptoinsightuk tied his bullish thesis to a combination of macro catalysts, including ongoing crypto regulation efforts, improving U.S.-China relations and shifting Federal Reserve leadership expectations.
After a run of hotter-than-expected inflation data this week, investors on Friday ramped up bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve will shift into interest-rate hiking mode perhaps before the year is out, presenting a potential policy dilemma out of the starting gate for incoming central bank leader Kevin Warsh.
Interest rate futures prices fell sharply on Friday, reflecting a growing conviction among bond market investors that stiff inflation will push the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates late this year or in early 2027.
Canadian existing home sales came in line with expectations of a 0.7% month-over-month uptick in April, following a 0.1% dip in March, noted Rosenberg Research. This was the first monthly gain since last October, and took the level back to 35,600 units -- a three-month high, noted Rosenberg Research.
The total monthly seasonally adjusted annual rate of housing starts for all areas in Canada increased 17% in April to 279,317 units compared with March, said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation on Friday. April's increase was better than the 245,000 consensus figure provided by MUFG.
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.
Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.
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