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.
2,039 total articles
The Bank of Japan maintained its short-term policy rate at 0.75% following a two-day meeting, warning that rising oil prices linked to the Middle East conflict could add to underlying inflationary pressures. A lone board dissent in favor of a 1.0% rate was recorded, and market attention has shifted to Governor Kazuo Ueda’s post-meeting briefing for…
A powerful unnamed AI model that appeared anonymously on OpenRouter has been confirmed by Xiaomi's MiMo team to be an early internal test build of MiMo-V2-Pro, ending speculation that it was the long-awaited DeepSeek-V4. The model, labeled Hunter Alpha on the platform, drew attention for its advertised one-trillion-parameter size and a one-million-…
The Bank of Japan kept its overnight call rate at 0.75% in a near-unanimous decision, warning that higher oil prices tied to the U.S.-Israel war on Iran pose upside risks to inflation. Policymakers expect near-term cooling in consumer price inflation but anticipate underlying inflation will reach the 2% target later in 2026. Markets broadly expecte…
Australia added a larger-than-expected 48,900 jobs in February, powered by a sharp increase in part-time positions, particularly among those aged 65 and over. Despite the headline employment gain, the unemployment rate rose to 4.3% as more people entered the labour force and overall hours worked declined.
The yen hovered close to a two-year low as a firmer dollar and rising oil prices fed currency pressure ahead of the Bank of Japan's policy decision. Markets digested the Federal Reserve's decision to hold rates and its outlook for inflation and employment, while participants weighed the potential economic and inflationary effects of the escalating …
Global equities fell and oil prices climbed after a marked escalation in the conflict involving Iran, Israel and the United States. Attacks on energy facilities and strikes beyond the Strait of Hormuz lifted crude and natural gas, while the Federal Reserve's hawkish outlook supported the U.S. dollar as investors awaited policy guidance from other m…
European Union leaders plan to press Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to withdraw his obstruction of a 90-billion-euro EU loan to Ukraine that was approved in December. Orban has withheld implementation since last month, citing a disagreement over the war-damaged Druzhba oil pipeline. Kyiv faces a funding crunch within weeks if the loan is not…
U.S. officials and people familiar with planning say the administration is considering sending thousands of troops to the Middle East as part of expanded operations against Iran. Options under review include securing passage through the Strait of Hormuz and a possible ground operation on Kharg Island, a key hub for Iran's oil exports. The deliberat…
The Bank of England is widely expected to delay a previously anticipated interest rate cut as higher oil and gas prices linked to the Middle East conflict raise the prospect that inflation will re-accelerate toward 3% or above, undermining the case for looser policy. Markets have pared back expectations for multiple cuts this year and are pricing a…
The European Central Bank is expected to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 2% but will signal readiness to tighten policy if higher energy prices from the Iran conflict cause persistent inflation. Officials will publish updated forecasts and alternative scenarios showing how a short or protracted conflict could affect growth and inflation ac…
New Zealand's economy posted a slight expansion of 0.2% in the fourth quarter versus the prior quarter, missing forecasts and leaving annual growth modest at 1.3%. Weakness in construction contrasted with gains in rental, hiring and real estate services. The data underlines the Reserve Bank of New Zealand's decision to pause rate cuts and reflects …
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned that tariff-related price rises and higher energy costs linked to the Iran war present material obstacles to reducing inflation. Speaking after the Fed's two-day policy meeting, Powell said the central bank needs to see progress on core inflation this year as one-time tariff impacts pass through, and that …
Brazil’s policy-setting committee lowered the Selic rate by 25 basis points to 14.75%, ending a run of five meetings at 15%. The move begins an easing cycle but is accompanied by careful language about future steps as oil prices jump and reshape inflation and market expectations. Government fuel measures and Treasury interventions have followed the…
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled significant uncertainty about how rising oil prices tied to Middle East hostilities could affect inflation and U.S. growth after the Federal Open Market Committee held the federal funds rate at 3.50%-3.75%. The FOMC's updated projections still point to at least one rate cut this year and another in 2027,…
Foreign ownership of U.S. Treasuries rose in January to $9.305 trillion from $9.271 trillion in December, led by increases from Japan, the United Kingdom and China. The gains reflect continued overseas appetite for U.S. government debt amid elevated yields, a rotation from equities into fixed income, and ongoing Treasury issuance to finance rising …
The Bank of Japan is widely expected to keep its short-term policy rate unchanged at 0.75% as it seeks clearer signals on how the escalating Middle East conflict and higher oil prices will influence an import-dependent economy already experiencing sustained inflationary pressure. Governor Kazuo Ueda is likely to reiterate the central bank's commitm…
Wall Street declined and Treasury yields rose sharply after a surge in oil prices, hotter-than-expected U.S. producer price inflation, and a Federal Reserve projection mix that traders read as meaning fewer rate cuts in 2026. The moves lifted the dollar, pressured equities across sectors and flattened yield curves, leaving investors reassessing gro…
A hacker using the name "Internet Yiff Machine" says they penetrated P3 Global Intel, a tip intelligence unit of Navigate360, and exfiltrated roughly 93 gigabytes containing more than 8 million confidential tips. The intruder claims to have used social engineering to seize a customer account before exploiting a vulnerability to download the data. S…
Absences among Transportation Security Administration officers dipped slightly to 9.9% on Tuesday as the partial government shutdown reached its 33rd day, the Department of Homeland Security said. The funding lapse has forced roughly 50,000 TSA airport security officers to work without pay for a month, producing spot shortages at several major airp…
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that despite a recent spike in energy prices tied to the Iran conflict, the U.S. economy is far from the stagflation experienced in the 1970s. With inflation about one percentage point above the Fed's target and unemployment remaining low, Powell described the present environment as a difficult bal…
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said at a post-meeting press conference that he will remain in the role if a successor is not confirmed by the end of his current chair term in May. Powell stated this continuation is prescribed by law and noted the Fed has followed the same procedure on multiple occasions, including previously in his own case.
A banking group led by JPMorgan Chase is running back-to-back debt offerings tied to the take-private of Electronic Arts and Qualtrics' purchase of Press Ganey Forsta. The closely sequenced sales are being watched by bankers as a measure of demand for leveraged loans and high-yield bonds in a technology sector facing heightened volatility due to co…
Federal Reserve projections released on March 18 reveal a split among policymakers: most still expect the next move on interest rates to be a cut this year, but one official now predicts a rate increase next year. Median forecasts for headline and core inflation were revised up, while unemployment and GDP outlooks held steady or edged higher.
One Federal Reserve official has shifted to forecasting a rate increase next year, the first such projection in two-and-a-half years, as the Iran war and higher oil prices persist into a third week. Most Fed policymakers still expect the next move will be a rate cut this year. The central bank held the policy rate at 3.5%-3.75% and raised its infla…
The Federal Reserve left the target range for the federal funds rate unchanged at 3.50%-3.75% at its latest meeting, maintaining projections for at least one rate cut this year in its updated Summary of Economic Projections. The committee flagged elevated uncertainty around the economic outlook and noted the unclear implications of the ongoing Midd…
