Supply chain bottlenecks, the highest inflation in decades and a persisting labour shortage are weighing on businesses across the country, according to a new Federal Reserve report. In its region-by-region roundup of anecdotal information known as the Beige Book, the Fed reported that while economic activity increased at a “moderate …
Read More »Japanese stocks track Wall Street gains
Japanese stocks rose on Wednesday for a second straight session, as technology heavyweights tracked Wall Street’s overnight gains, while the yen’s recent decline helped boost automakers’ shares. The Nikkei index closed up 0.86 percent to 27,217.85 points, while the broader Topix index closed up 1.03 percent to 1,915.15 points. “US …
Read More »Market Drivers – US Session – 19 April
Money flowed out of bonds again, sending the 10-year Treasury yield higher by 4 basis points to 2.9%. The bond market continues to price in aggressive rates by the Federal Reserve this year.Economic DataHousing Starts rose by 0.3% in March, taking the rolling 12-month number of starts to 1.793M, above …
Read More »Wall Street higher on earnings hopes
An optimistic earnings outlook helped push Wall Street higher on Tuesday, while concerns over global economic growth and expectations on recession heavily weighed on oil and boosted bond yields.The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the way for gains in U.S. markets, shaking off lower trading in Europe. With many corporations beginning to …
Read More »OPEC+ supply gap widens in March as sanctions hit Russia’s production
A report from the OPEC + group seen by Reuters showed that the production of the alliance of oil producers was less than production targets in March by 1.45 million barrels per day, with the beginning of a decline in Russia’s production after the sanctions imposed by the West. The …
Read More »Nikkei rises but fails to exceed 27,000
Japan’s Nikkei rose on Tuesday, but was unable to close above the psychologically important 27,000 point level, as concerns over the upcoming earnings season, a weaker yen and the outlook for US monetary policy limited its gains. The Nikkei closed up 0.69 percent to 26,985.09 points, after it swung in …
Read More »US Stocks Wavering In Thin Trade As Long-End Bonds Fall
US stocks ended little changed in remarkably thin trading Monday and Treasuries ticked lower at the long-end of the curve as investors focused on corporate results and prospects for faster policy tightening by the US central bank.The S&P 500 closed down less than 0.1%, after swinging between narrow gains and …
Read More »Market Drivers – US Session – 15 April
US stock markets were closed for Good Friday and other holidays, while Asian indexes fell. US indexes finished the trading week with declines as investors worried about persistent inflation, prospects of economic slowdown. In addition to US stock markets, bond and commodities markets were also closed Friday. Economic DataFriday witnessed …
Read More »Bank Earnings Signal Dark Clouds Ahead
Wall Street’s biggest players have had a rough start to the year. All the biggest US banks saw negative profits in the first three months of 2022, ending a pandemic-era boom.Citi, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo all announced large year-over-year profit declines in their first-quarter earnings reports Thursday, …
Read More »China-EU commercial ties too hard to break despite Ukraine war
China surpassed the United States to become the European Union’s (EU) largest trading partner in 2020-21 thanks to strong demand during the pandemic. Despite EU frustrations with Beijing over its stance on the Ukraine war, trade ties will be hard to break, regardless of attempts by EU policymakers to diversify …
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