US pulls back from applying fresh tariffs to Chinese tech goods August 13, 2019 The Trump administration has pulled back from slapping tariffs on certain products from China such as laptops and mobile phones, providing relief for jittery global investors. Read more: Tariffs hurting US manufacturers, says Trump’s ex-economic adviser At the start of the month the US announced it would apply 10 per cent tariffs to $300bn of [...]
US inflation picks up amid presidential pressure for rate cuts August 13, 2019 US inflation picked up in July as the cost of gasoline and housing rose, raising the possibility the Federal Reserve will hold back from rate cuts in the near future. Read more: Fed cuts interest rates for first time in ten years The US consumer price index (CPI) picked up to 1.8 per cent from [...]
Third of investors expecting recession as trade war fears loom August 13, 2019 More than one in three investors are forecasting a global recession in the next 12 months, marking an eight-year high as trade war worries linger over markets across the world. In the highest recession probability level since October 2011, 34 per cent of investors surveyed by Bank of America Merrill Lynch have said they think [...]
Recession fears as gold price hits more than six-year high August 13, 2019 The price of gold hit a more than six-year high this morning as investors looked for a safe haven for their money amid protests in Hong Kong and fears of a crash. Spot gold prices were up 1.2 per cent by around 8.30am to $1,523 per ounce. Read more: Gold hits five-year high on dovish [...]
Patrick Reed has reaped the rewards of a rest to get back to where he belongs August 12, 2019 After a horrid start to the year, Patrick Reed has been shaping up nicely for the last two or three months and the 2018 Masters champion capped that return to form with a big win at the Northern Trust on Sunday. Jon Rahm had looked on track to claim the second event of the FedEx [...]
US stock markets fall with Donald Trump ‘not ready’ for deal with China August 9, 2019 US stock markets have fallen today after President Donald Trump said his administration was “not ready to make a deal” with China. Read more: Italian markets in turmoil as government edges closer to collapse The tech-heavy Nasdaq stock index had fallen 1.2 per cent, the S&P 500 had dropped one per cent, and the Dow [...]
Independent central banks are under threat once more August 9, 2019 Being just a couple of decades old, the widespread adoption of independent central banks is relatively new to the world. Yet this is a role which now needs to adapt to a world whose politics is changing very fast. Different inflation objectives and tools have been discussed plenty of times before, but as the objectives [...]
Trump: Fed interest rates harming US exporters August 8, 2019 US President lashed out at the Federal Reserve today, saying a high dollar, which he blames on Fed policy, is hitting US exporting giants. The President, not a stranger to Fed-bashing said that he was not “thrilled” by the strength of the currency. Read more: A belligerent President has an effect on us all “The [...]
Sterling to tumble further as no-deal Brexit worries intensify August 8, 2019 Sterling will continue its losing streak and tumble further as a no-deal Brexit becomes increasingly likely, a Reuters poll of foreign exchange analysts has found. Read more: Sterling resumes fall as Brexit debate takes bizarre turn The pound will slide beyond recent two-year lows against the dollar to trade between $1.17 and $1.20. It slumped [...]
A belligerent President has an effect on us all August 8, 2019 Donald Trump’s 63m followers on Twitter are used to all manner of bluster emerging from the US President’s account. Nonetheless, yesterday’s rant at the Federal Reserve managed to raise a few eyebrows when Trump bizarrely argued that the “yield curve is at too wide a margin” to justify rates staying at their current level. Trump [...]