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.
7,048 total articles
Global equity benchmarks climbed to new peaks while gold vaulted past $5,000 an ounce and the dollar plunged toward four-month lows. Investors prepared for a heavy cadence of U.S. corporate results and a two-day Federal Reserve meeting that together could steer market direction in the near term. Currency intervention talk around the yen, an explosi…
President Donald Trump announced an increase in tariffs on South Korean goods from 15% to 25%, citing the South Korean legislature's failure to approve a trade agreement the two countries reached last year. The move, detailed in a Truth Social post, singles out automobiles, lumber, pharmaceuticals and other products subject to reciprocal tariffs an…
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and U.S. President Donald Trump spoke by phone for 50 minutes on Monday. The conversation covered the situation in Venezuela, Trump’s proposed Board of Peace and efforts to combat organized crime. Brazil said Lula agreed to make a visit to Washington soon but the government did not clarify whether he wo…
With the Federal Reserve widely expected to keep its policy rate in the 3.50%-3.75% range at the end of its two-day meeting, bond managers are modestly increasing exposure to longer-dated debt and selective corporate credit. Market pricing for 2026 easing has retreated, while tight investment-grade spreads and geopolitical concerns limit more aggre…
The European Parliament has deferred a decision on whether to resume work on an EU-US trade deal it suspended in protest over President Donald Trump's reported bid for Greenland and tariff threats. Votes scheduled for Monday and Tuesday were put off, with the trade committee chair saying a negotiating team will reconvene on February 4 to reassess. …
CIBC economist Andrew Grantham argues that Canada's consumer spending pattern - unlike the 'K-shaped' divergence seen in the U.S. - conceals mounting stress in household balance sheets and the labour market. While spending appears evenly distributed across income groups, lower-income households are sustaining outlays by drawing down savings, and hi…
The dollar has slid sharply in early 2026 as investor confidence in a period of currency stability weakens. A constellation of factors - including explicit U.S. policy signals favoring a weaker dollar, aggressive trade rhetoric, geopolitical operations, and shifting central bank expectations - have driven a notable fall in the currency against peer…
Nearly all economists surveyed expect the Bank of England to keep Bank Rate at 3.75% at its February meeting, and a slim majority now foresee a 25 basis-point cut to 3.50% in March. The poll reflects stronger recent private sector growth, resilient retail sales and sticky inflation, leaving policymakers divided after a narrow decision to cut rates …
About 31,000 registered nurses and allied healthcare workers represented by the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals (UNAC/UHCP) are staging an open-ended strike at Kaiser Permanente locations across California and Hawaii beginning Monday at 7 a.m. PT (1500 GMT). The union says management undermined negotiatio…
The U.S. Treasury Department announced it has terminated all 31 contracts it held with Booz Allen Hamilton, valued at $21 million, accusing the firm of failing to protect sensitive information including taxpayer data accessed through work for the Internal Revenue Service. The move follows the conviction and 2024 sentencing of former contractor Char…
Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s large-scale fiscal programme has raised hopes of a return to growth in Germany after two years of near stagnation. Economists expect a marked improvement in 2026 as spending measures gather force, but many of the structural reforms seen as necessary for a durable recovery have not been enacted. Slow federal decision-maki…
Wolfe Research analyst Stephanie Roth identifies a 90-minute window during the January Federal Open Market Committee meeting as the most probable time for President Trump to announce his choice for the next Federal Reserve chair. The timing aligns with a Jan. 31 vacancy and the need to address potential attention around a Fed that did not cut rates…
Saudi Arabia will reduce the scale of its flagship Neom development following a government review of its gigaprojects. Major elements of the plan, including The Line and the Trojena ski resort, are being scaled back, and the kingdom has delayed hosting the Asian Winter Games that had been set for 2029. Analysts point to a reassessment of project sc…
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman contributed $10,000 to a GoFundMe for the family of Alex Pretti, who was fatally shot by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis. The campaign had raised more than $1 million and listed Ackman’s contribution. The donation follows an earlier $10,000 gift by Ackman to a fundraiser for an immigration officer involved…
The South African Reserve Bank faces a close call this week between keeping its policy rate unchanged or implementing a 25 basis point reduction. UBS analysts say their view is tilted toward no change, as the central bank may prefer to wait for the March meeting after reviewing the government budget due February 12 and January inflation adjustments…
The National Bank of Hungary is widely expected to maintain its current policy rate at its forthcoming meeting, with analysts citing stronger services inflation and a larger-than-anticipated fiscal deficit as key reasons to defer cuts. UBS and Bloomberg consensus forecasts point to unchanged policy for this session, even as the central bank had sig…
Brazil closed 2025 with a current account deficit equal to 3.02% of GDP, almost unchanged from 3.03% in 2024, central bank figures show. The gap narrowed from an earlier widening to nearly 3.7% of GDP and remained mostly financed by foreign direct investment, which totaled 3.41% of GDP for the year. December data showed a narrower-than-expected cur…
Analysts at UBS say sources of U.S. growth are narrowing, with much of the economy showing weakness or contraction. The outlook through 2028, they argue, depends heavily on recent surges in artificial intelligence investment concentrated in large technology companies, while consumer spending gains are skewed toward higher-income households.
Goldman Sachs raised CEO David Solomon’s total compensation to $47 million for 2025, a 20.5% increase from the prior year, following a year of elevated deal activity and trading gains that propelled the bank to the top of global M&A rankings. The package, which included a $2 million base salary and $45 million in variable pay, exceeded peer pay dis…
India is preparing to lower import duties on certain cars from the European Union to 40% from current peaks of 110% as part of a free trade agreement that could be announced as early as Tuesday. The government has agreed to an immediate cut for a limited set of vehicles from the 27-nation bloc with import prices above €15,000 ($17,739), with tariff…
Pakistan’s central bank left its benchmark policy rate unchanged at 10.50% on Monday, the governor said, bucking market forecasts for another interest-rate cut after a surprise 50 basis-point reduction in December. The move follows cumulative easing of 1,150 basis points since mid-2024 and comes amid slowing headline inflation and ongoing IMF advic…
Gold extended its record run, trading above $5,100 on continued safe-haven demand from central banks and investors concerned about geopolitical risks and market volatility tied to U.S. political developments. The metal has risen sharply year-to-date and posted an unprecedented annual gain in 2025, while other precious metals also reached new highs …
The German savings banks association DSGV projects that Germany's economy will expand by 1% in 2026 after three years of stagnation. DSGV leadership and economists caution that much of the improvement reflects temporary government measures - notably public financing for infrastructure, climate programmes and higher defence spending - and warn the r…
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep its policy rate unchanged this week as the central bank confronts political pressure from the White House, a threatened criminal probe of the chairman, a Supreme Court case on the potential removal of a governor, and the imminent nomination to replace Jerome Powell. While markets have so far shown limi…
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to leave its policy rate at 2.25% at its Wednesday decision, while economists and money markets diverge on the path for monetary policy through 2026. The central bank's future actions hinge in part on renegotiations of the US-Mexico-Canada trade pact and the lingering effects of U.S. tariffs on certain sectors.
