With Fed’s rate cut at hand, debate swirls over how big a move

September 18, 2024 2:14 PM

With Fed’s rate cut at hand, debate swirls over how big a move

The Federal Reserve on Wednesday almost certainly will lower interest rates for the first time in more than four years as the U.S. central bank starts to reverse the restrictive conditions it imposed to beat back inflation, but whether policymakers opt for a half-percentage-point cut or smaller move remains up in the air. Their choice on how they want to kick off a new easing cycle - less than two months before what is expected to be a close U.S. presidential election - likely hinges more on wh...

Bangladesh: Government to publish ‘white paper on the state of the economy’

August 22, 2024 9:38 AM

Bangladesh: Government to publish ‘white paper on the state of the economy’

In Bangladesh, the interim government has taken a decision to publish a white paper on the state of the economy in six priority areas, including public finance, inflation, and food management. An economist and a distinguished fellow of the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), Debapriya Bhattacharya will be the chief of a panel of economists and eminent citizens, who will come up with the white paper, according to the press wing at the Chief Adviser's office. The committee will publish the white pa...

Asia stocks down, yen slump keeps markets on intervention alert

June 27, 2024 10:27 AM

Asia stocks down, yen slump keeps markets on intervention alert

Asian shares fell and bond yields spiked on nervousness about inflation on Thursday, while the yen's slide past 160-per-dollar had currency traders bracing for Japan to step in and steady it. The dollar made six-week highs on sterling and the kiwi and at 160.7 yen traded just shy of Thursday's 38-year peak. The jittery mood had frothy sectors of financial markets especially vulnerable and Nasdaq futures dropped 0.5%. Shares in bellwether chipmaker Micron Technology slid 8% in U.S. after-hours ...

Asia shares slip as inflation, politics call for caution

June 24, 2024 11:02 AM

Asia shares slip as inflation, politics call for caution

Asia shares slipped on Monday in a countdown for U.S. price data that investors are banking on to show a renewed moderation in inflation, while markets were on alert for possible Japanese intervention as the dollar tested the 160 yen barrier. Geopolitics also loomed large, with the first U.S. presidential debate on Thursday and the first round of voting in the French election at the weekend. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan fell 0.9%, after touching a two-year top las...

India’s wholesale inflation rises from 1.26% to 2.61% in May, pushed by food, energy prices

September 16, 2024 6:35 PM

India’s wholesale inflation rises from 1.26% to 2.61% in May, pushed by food, energy prices

Wholesale inflation in India, based on the Wholesale Price Index rose to 2.61 per cent in May versus 1.26 reported in April, official data from the Commerce Ministry showed on Friday. Thus, it remained in positive territory for the seventh month after remaining in the negative zone for seven months until October. The high rate of wholesale inflation in April was primarily due to an increase in prices of food articles and minerals. In the food basket, cereals, paddy, pulses, vegetables, potato,...

Fed leaves rates unchanged, sees only one 2024 cut despite inflation progress

June 13, 2024 11:23 AM

Fed leaves rates unchanged, sees only one 2024 cut despite inflation progress

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday and pushed out the start of rate cuts to perhaps as late as December as policymakers sketched out their view of an economy that remains virtually unchanged across its major dimensions for years to come. With growth and unemployment lodged at levels better than the U.S. central bank considers sustainable in the long run, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said policymakers were content to leave rates where they are until the economy sends a clear ...

Fed expected to hold rates steady, project fewer cuts in 2024

June 12, 2024 5:35 PM

Fed expected to hold rates steady, project fewer cuts in 2024

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged on Wednesday, with new economic projections from the U.S. central bank's policymakers likely to show fewer rate cuts this year and a delayed start to monetary policy easing. Fed officials will receive a new round of inflation data that could shape their outlook just hours before they conclude their latest two-day meeting and release a fresh policy statement and updated quarterly projections. But with the Fed's efforts to lower i...

Asia shares rally on promise of rate relief, factory pick up

September 16, 2024 5:43 PM

Asia shares rally on promise of rate relief, factory pick up

Asian share markets rallied on Monday as investors looked forward to a rate cut in Europe, and quite possibly Canada, as the next step in global policy easing, though sticky inflation threatens to make the process a drawn out affair. There was also better news from China as the private Caixin survey showed a pick-up in its main factory index to a two-year top of 51.7 in May, from 51.4 in April. Japan's factory activity expanded for the first time in a year in May, while activity in South Korea...

Global stocks and dollar idle ahead of Fed’s favourite inflation figure

May 31, 2024 3:15 PM

Global stocks and dollar idle ahead of Fed’s favourite inflation figure

Global shares were little changed on Friday in subdued trading as investors hunkered down for key U.S inflation figures that will shape the Federal Reserve's thinking on interest rates when it meets mid-June. The dollar was steady against peer currencies ahead of the U.S. inflation data. Oil was slightly weaker after Fed officials said it was too soon to start considering rate cuts, and following a surprise build in U.S. gasoline stocks. The MSCI All Country Stock index was flat at 780.9 poin...