Macroeconomic data, trends, and policy developments.
Coverage of key economic indicators, central bank policy decisions, inflation trends, labor data, and growth signals. This category focuses on the macroeconomic forces that shape markets, interest rates, and long-term capital allocation.
7,188 total articles
The United Kingdom has signed a trade agreement with the Gulf Cooperation Council, marking the first time a G7 country has secured a pact with the six-nation bloc. The Department for Business and Trade estimates the deal will add £3.7 billion to UK GDP annually and raise wages by £1.9 billion per year over the long term. Immediate tariff reductions…
Minutes from the Federal Reserve's April meeting show a majority of policymakers judged that further policy firming - including interest rate hikes - would likely become appropriate if inflation continued to run above target. Participants pointed to recent upward pressure on inflation partly tied to rising oil prices amid the Middle East conflict a…
The U.S. Trade Representative’s office has endorsed a provisional European Union legislative agreement to eliminate import duties on U.S. goods, while warning that Brussels must still resolve regulatory and non-tariff obstacles referenced in the Joint Statement reached last year. The USTR said it will keep reviewing specific limiting amendments in …
Lazard CEO Peter Orszag warned that the U.S. economy has become a leveraged wager on artificial intelligence, with AI-driven equity gains and spending concentrated among higher-income consumers. Orszag highlighted recent advisory work on a major utility deal that underscores rising power demand tied to AI, and cautioned that rapid shifts could pose…
Iran's foreign ministry says diplomatic message exchanges with U.S. officials are ongoing, anchored in a 14-point proposal from Tehran. Pakistan's interior minister is in Iran to assist communication. Iranian officials reiterate demands including an end to what they describe as piracy against Iranian vessels, a halt to fighting including in Lebanon…
The U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control sanctioned over a dozen individuals and entities connected to two distinct Sinaloa Cartel networks involved in fentanyl and other illicit drug trafficking. The measures focus on a U.S.-based cash collection and crypto conversion ring and a separate organization led by a fugitive trafficker respon…
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and policymaker Swati Dhingra told Parliament that government-imposed caps on food prices would be unsustainable and distort the economy in the long run. The Treasury has dropped plans to force grocery price caps after criticism from retailers. On monetary policy, Bailey said the central bank is not in a hurry…
Multiple sources say the European Central Bank is widely expected to approve a rate increase at its June 11 meeting due to persistent energy-driven inflation pressures and an outlook slipping toward the bank's adverse scenario. However, officials are likely to avoid committing to an additional move in July, preferring to preserve flexibility as pol…
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told lawmakers that recent increases in market interest rates since the start of the Iran war have created breathing room for the central bank to assess the conflict's economic impact. Bailey referenced higher mortgage borrowing costs, a softer outlook for growth and the labour market, and said market pricing …
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey told lawmakers that increases in market interest rates since the onset of the Iran war have created a window for the central bank to determine the appropriate policy response to the conflict's economic effects. Bailey highlighted rising mortgage borrowing costs as an example of market tightening, noted softer …
ADNOC reports the United Arab Emirates' new crude pipeline intended to route oil around the Strait of Hormuz has reached roughly 50% completion. The project was publicly disclosed last week and is being expedited to double Fujairah export capacity by 2027 amid continued restrictions on non-Iranian vessels transiting the strait and damage assessment…
A Reuters poll finds most economists expect the Bank of Israel to resume lowering its policy rate next week after a pause. Stable inflation, a strengthened shekel and a ceasefire with Iran that has held for over a month are cited as factors supporting easing. The central bank meets Monday to set short-term rates.
Poland is preparing to reenter the Swiss franc-denominated bond market for the first time since 2015, appointing BNP Paribas and UBS Investment Bank to coordinate a potential multi-tranche senior unsecured issue. The transaction - which may include a green bond tranche - is conditional on market conditions and follows a period in which Poland has n…
The UK government intends to delay a scheduled fuel duty increase in September as petrol and diesel prices rise following developments in the Iran region. The short-term hold on the planned 1 pence per litre rise is expected to be announced soon, while subsequent increases pencilled in for December and March 2027 remain part of the existing plan. M…
UK equity indices edged higher after April consumer inflation cooled to an annual rate of 2.8%, below expectations. Markets weighed the data against recent signs of a weaker labour market and mixed signals on the Bank of England's next moves, while sector movers included aerospace and defence gains and a bounce in Marks & Spencer shares.
The average U.S. 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose to 6.56% for the week ended May 15, its highest level in seven weeks, driven by a global bond market selloff linked to elevated energy prices and stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks. Mortgage applications fell to a five-week low as adjustable-rate products remained notably cheaper than fixed-rate loans. T…
Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin met on Wednesday to underscore their comprehensive partnership and to publicly criticize U.S. President Donald Trump's Golden Dome missile defense plans. The two leaders signed a lengthy joint statement and a package of additional agreements, while negotiators reported only a general…
President Prabowo Subianto told parliament that Indonesia will centralise exports of selected commodities under a government-appointed enterprise to capture greater state revenue and tighten oversight of natural resources. The initial list includes palm oil, coal and ferroalloy, with a three-month transition during which transactions will be monito…
Benchmark rice prices in Asia rose to their highest level in over a year amid mounting concern about regional harvests. Thai 5% broken white rice climbed to $446 a ton, marking a third straight week of gains and the highest price since February 2025. The US Department of Agriculture expects global rice production to fall in the 2026-27 season for t…
New rules issued by Chinese authorities specify implementation measures for a 2024 law, directing rapid construction of state-controlled strategic mineral reserve facilities, enforcing a minimum five-year on-site holding period and prohibiting mining or encroachment of state-held strategic minerals without approval from the State Council's natural …
UK average house prices were unchanged in March at £268,000 compared with a year earlier, marking the first 12-month period without growth in almost two years. Seasonally adjusted prices fell 0.2% in March, while higher energy costs and rising mortgage rates linked to the Iran conflict are weighing on the market.
Singapore is exploring a novel approach to AI product transparency: 'nutrition labels' for consumer applications that would spell out intended uses and limitations. The government, led by Digital Development and Information Minister Josephine Teo, is considering a voluntary rollout while also building testing and accreditation frameworks and attrac…
U.S. convertible bond issuance surged to about $34 billion in the first four months of 2026, more than double the same period a year earlier, with roughly half tied to AI-related activity. Corporates are favoring convertibles to finance capital expenditure for data centers, power and cloud infrastructure and to roll over pandemic-era convertibles a…
The Federal Reserve's minutes from the April 28-29 policy meeting are scheduled for release on Wednesday and are expected to expose deep divisions among policymakers on the outlook for interest rates and inflation. The meeting produced the most dissents since 1992 and coincided with the end of Jerome Powell's tenure as chair. With Kevin Warsh set t…
Initial alarm that Anthropic’s Mythos large language model would unleash a tidal wave of new hacking capability has moderated. Experts who have used Mythos say it marks a technical advance in vulnerability discovery but that organizational capacity, validation processes and substantial computing and harness requirements constrain how rapidly bad ac…
