Global economy ‘perilously close’ to recession after aggressive rate hikes to tame inflation January 10, 2023 The global economy “is perilously close to falling into recession” after central banks across the world have collectively raised interest rates aggressively to tame roaring inflation, one of the globe’s top economic institutions has warned. World GDP will expand just 1.7 per cent this year, a slump beaten only by the Covid-19 pandemic and financial [...]
US economy adds more jobs than expected in headache for Fed January 6, 2023 The US economy added more jobs than expected last month, but cooling wage growth may convince the Federal Reserve to hold off on repeating jumbo interest rate hikes this year, official figures out today reveal. Some 223k Americans bagged a new job last month, down slightly from November, according to data from the US Bureau [...]
Pound sterling: 2023 could be another torrid year as it tumbles to November low against US dollar January 6, 2023 The pound has tumbled to its lowest level against the US dollar since November, pushed down by investors on both sides of the Atlantic betting the Federal Reserve will keep raising interest rates aggressively this year. The currency dropped a shade over 0.2 per cent to $1.19 this morning, leaving it trading at pre-Christmas levels. [...]
Federal Reserve signals more rate hikes to slay inflation and warns against market optimism January 4, 2023 The US Federal Reserve needs “substantially more evidence” proving inflation is falling quickly from red hot levels before ending its aggressive interest rate hike campaign, minutes from its latest meeting reveal. Officials at the world’s most influential central bank unanimously agreed to slow the pace of rate increases to 50 basis points in December from [...]
Euro on course for worst day since September in poor start to 2023 January 3, 2023 The euro has kicked off 2023 poorly, with investors ditching the common currency and flooding back into the US dollar. The currency used by the now 20 countries that make up the eurozone after Croatia joined the union earlier this month was on track for its steepest drop against the greenback since September last year [...]
US Federal Reserve ushers in global rate hike slow down with 50 point rise December 14, 2022 The US Federal Reserve has tamed the pace of its aggressive interest rate hike campaign tonight, but signalled borrowing costs will eventually peak much higher than previously expected. Chair Jerome Powell and the rest of the federal open market committee (FOMC) backed a 50 basis point rise in the world’s most important interest rate, climbing [...]
US inflation falls quicker than expected nailing on slow down from Federal Reserve December 13, 2022 US inflation fell again last month to its lowest level since the end of 2021 in another sign this year’s price surge in the world’s biggest economy has passed its peak, official figures out today reveal. Consumer prices climbed 7.1 per cent over the last year to November across the pond, down from a rate [...]
City braces for final economic figures before Christmas break December 11, 2022 The City is bracing for a string of big economic announcements in what will be the final busy week of news before the Christmas break. Tomorrow, fresh gross domestic product (GDP) figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) are expected to show the UK economy recovered in October. But, the 0.4 per cent growth [...]
Pound hits highest level against US dollar since early August and posts best monthly gain since 2020 December 1, 2022 The pound has climbed to its highest level against the US dollar since early August driven by investors betting on slower interest rate rises across the pond. Sterling bounced above $1.22 and was up over 1.2 per cent against the dollar heading into late afternoon trading today. US Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell last night [...]
Federal Reserve could scale back interest rate hikes from December November 30, 2022 The Federal Reserve could scale back the pace of its interest rate hikes "as soon as December," revealed Fed Chair Jerome Powell.