Oil prices fell for the fifth consecutive day on Thursday, March 18th, after official data revealed a sustained increase in crude and fuel stocks in the United States, while the ongoing pandemic clouded the outlook for demand. Brent crude fell 37 cents, or 0.5%, to $ 67.63 a barrel, after …

The Federal Reserve is set to leave its policy unchanged but publish closely-watched forecasts for growth, inflation, employment and interest rates. Markets foresee an earlier increase in borrowing costs than the Fed and fear a bump up in inflation.  Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will hold a press conference at …

A report by the Federation of Financial Markets in Europe said that the volume of trading in European government bonds increased to the highest level in five years in 2020. Added that the average annual trading volume increased 0.9% year-on-year to 71.7 billion euros last year, the highest since 2015. …

Inflation in Canada, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), was 0.5% in February, the data published by Statistics Canada showed on Wednesday. On a yearly basis, the CPI edged higher to 1.1% from 1% but fell short of the market expectation of 1.3%. Moreover, the Bank of Canada’s …

Housing Starts in the US declined by 10.3% on a monthly basis in February following January’s 5.1% decline, the data published jointly by the US Census Bureau and the US Department of Housing and Urban Development showed on Wednesday. Further details of the publication revealed that Building Permits fell by …

The US dollar rose on Wednesday, March 17th and 10-year Treasury yields approached a 13-month peak ahead of the US Federal Reserve meeting that may shed some light on the timing of future interest rate hikes and the bank’s tolerance for higher yields. Policymakers are expected to release forecasts for …

Inflation in the euro area, as measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), stayed unchanged at 0.2% and 0.9% on a monthly and yearly basis, respectively, in February as expected. Further details of the report published by Eurostat revealed that the annual Core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy …

The US dollar index traded on the positive side on Wednesday near 91.90 amid a state of caution prevailing among traders ahead of the highly anticipated Fed meeting later in the day. Investors are anticipating that the Fed will raise growth forecasts after approving the massive stimulus package plus the …

The International Energy Agency said that oil prices are unlikely to rise sharply and continuously, despite the expectation that demand will be supported by vaccines later in the year, as the world is still awash with oil. She added in her monthly report, “The great rise of oil to close …

Japan shares closed flat on Wednesday, as gains in the health care sector were offset by profit-reaping selling in the technology sector, despite the continuing state of caution in general ahead of important meetings of the US Federal Reserve (central bank) and the Bank of Japan. The Nikkei index closed …