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.
4,092 total articles
Much of Asia will be closed for Lunar New Year as the calendar turns to the year of the fire horse, a signifier that markets describe as combining energy with volatility. Investors will be watching Walmart’s quarterly report for clues on U.S. consumer spending after mixed data, while earnings from Europe’s largest miners come amid record metal pric…
Ukraine's debt management chief says formal approval of an $8.2 billion International Monetary Fund programme should arrive imminently, a largely procedural but politically significant step as Kyiv navigates large fiscal gaps and wartime financial constraints. The deal is intended to replace a prior $15.6 billion facility and help sustain public ex…
Nomura now sees no April cut by the Reserve Bank of India, citing firmer inflation under a revised consumer price index series and what it calls 'stealth easing' that has already pushed money-market rates toward the repo rate floor. The brokerage raised its inflation projection for the fiscal year starting April and expects modest upward revisions …
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer intends to urge Western partners to pursue a coordinated defense-procurement program aimed at lowering the cost of rearmament by pooling purchases and standardizing equipment. The proposal, to be raised at the Munich Security Conference, responds to a projected UK defense funding shortfall of up to A328 billion o…
A renewed wave of selling in technology stocks gathered pace after Cisco warned that rising memory-chip costs had eroded margins, rekindling investor anxiety about profit growth. The rout spread across software, logistics and major consumer tech names, while safe-haven assets and Treasuries drew buying. Markets now await U.S. CPI for January and a …
Malaysia's economy recorded 5.2% growth in 2025, its fastest pace in three years and above official projections, driven by household spending, exports and investment. Fourth-quarter GDP surged 6.3% year-on-year, beating expectations, while authorities anticipate continued resilience in 2026 amid manageable inflation and a supportive exchange rate b…
The Pentagon has ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford to the Middle East, where it will operate alongside the USS Abraham Lincoln and a group of nine other warships. The move comes amid sustained tensions with Iran, recent U.S. strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and inconclusive diplomacy between Washington and Tehran.
The administration is examining whether to remove some steel and aluminum products from existing tariffs and to curb further expansions of the tariff list, while planning more focused national security inquiries into specific goods. The review follows criticism that the levies function as a tax on American consumers and businesses, with a recent Ne…
Economists expect U.S. consumer prices to have risen in January by roughly 0.3% month-on-month, driven by typical start-of-year price increases, the pass-through from broad tariffs and stronger electricity demand from data centers. The Labor Department’s CPI report arrives after stronger job growth and a modest fall in the unemployment rate, and wi…
A Reuters poll of 17 economists indicates Japan's nationwide core consumer price index - which includes energy but excludes fresh food - likely rose 2.0% year-on-year in January, easing for a second consecutive month from December's 2.4% increase. Analysts attribute the moderation chiefly to lower gasoline costs after a provisional tax cut and a de…
A federal judge in Chicago has issued a 14-day temporary order preventing the Trump administration from implementing $600 million in reductions to public health grants allocated to California, Colorado, Illinois and Minnesota. The states contend the cuts were motivated by retaliation for their stance on federal immigration enforcement; the funds at…
Federal Reserve Governor Stephen Miran warned that the central bank’s monetary stance may be tighter than widely believed and repeated his call for further interest-rate reductions. Miran said he does not view inflation as a pressing problem, citing low shelter inflation, and said looser policy should be used to support the labor market. Dallas Fed…
An economic adviser to Japan's premier indicated that successors to outgoing Bank of Japan board members do not have to be proponents of aggressive reflationary easing, saying Japan has left deflation behind and that the central bank may have room to raise rates this year as inflation and bond yields climb.
Taylor Swift’s company has lodged an opposition with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office seeking to prevent Cathay Home Inc from registering a federal trademark for "Swift Home" on bedding products, contending the cursive "Swift" in Cathay’s logo closely mirrors the singer’s trademarked signature and could lead consumers to believe she endorses th…
State-owned enterprises and local government bodies in China have begun acquiring foreclosed residential projects at substantial discounts, according to tender records and analysts. The activity, visible in a handful of publicly listed auction results, aligns with a 2024 policy push to use state firms to convert distressed assets into affordable ho…
The United States and Taiwan signed a reciprocal trade agreement in Washington that reduces Taiwanese tariffs on U.S. goods and establishes multi-billion-dollar purchase commitments in energy, aircraft, and power equipment. The pact, executed under the auspices of the American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) and the Taipei Economic and Cultural Represent…
A New York Fed official said the central bank will keep sizable Treasury bill and short-term government bond purchases in place through mid-April to rebuild reserves and manage liquidity around the annual tax filing date. The purchases, described as technical reserve management operations, total about $40 billion per month and sit alongside other g…
Bundesbank President Joachim Nagel said that if political influence over the U.S. Federal Reserve grows, it could set a precedent that encourages politicians in other countries to exert similar pressure on their central banks, potentially raising inflation worldwide. Nagel noted that while the European Central Bank's independence is well protected,…
Citigroup's rates desk warns market expectations for US inflation are too low and recommends inflation-linked positions. Benjamin Wiltshire says investors may be overlooking ongoing consumer resilience and that inflation is structurally higher, making five-year five-year inflation forwards an attractive trade given current pricing around 2.5%, belo…
Anthropic announced a $30 billion Series G funding round that places the AI developer behind the Claude chatbot at a $380 billion valuation. The round was co-led by D. E. Shaw Ventures, ICONIQ and MGX and included major venture and institutional investors. Anthropic, backed by Alphabet and Amazon, recently released a new flagship model, Opus 4.6, a…
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz reiterated his refusal to back joint European government bonds following a meeting where EU leaders pledged to strengthen the bloc’s border-free internal market. Merz pointed to constraints imposed by Germany’s Constitutional Court and signalled common ground with France on measures to shield European markets from u…
European Council President Antonio Costa said EU leaders unanimously endorsed accelerating the Savings and Investment Union and simplifying related regulations after a leaders' meeting at Alden Biesen castle in Belgium. The group also agreed to press ahead with the 28th regime for companies this year, permit greater consolidation in sectors such as…
The European Commission will publish an action plan in March to strengthen the EU single market of 450 million consumers and advance a long-delayed capital markets union to channel roughly €10 trillion held in bank accounts into more productive investments. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen outlined a June target to complete phase one of th…
Norway’s central bank governor said the bank is resolved to reduce consumer price inflation back to its 2% goal after core inflation unexpectedly rose to 3.4% in January. The reading, higher than both private economists' and the bank’s forecasts, has clouded the outlook for previously announced interest rate cuts and prompted a rally in the Norwegi…
A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study concludes that American consumers and companies carried nearly all of the economic burden from the administration’s recent tariff increases. The paper finds large pass-through of tariffs into import prices and shows the domestic share of the cost shifted somewhat over last year but remained dominant. The New…
