Market Update

St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said on Thursday that the US Fed could raise interest rates as soon as March. The Fed official, known as a hawk and aligned with the market sentiment, explained that the US central bank is now in a “good position” to take even more …

Despite the uncertainty about the new coronavirus variant, the US economy ended 2021 on a high with rising consumer spending and falling unemployment. According to the US Economic scene published by the Conference Board in December, the Omicron variant does not seem to have dampened spirits for the coming year …

US trade deficit in goods hit a fresh record in November due to strong demand and an easing of supply-chain issues.California’s Port of Los Angeles is struggling to keep up with the influx of cargo containers arriving at its terminals, creating one of the biggest obstruction points in the global …

Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President and FOMC member Mary Daly said on Thursday that policymakers will need to raise interest rates to keep the economy in balance. “Even if we do a couple of interest rate increases, monetary policy will still be accommodative”, she added. Additional Remarks:“Inflation is …

The WTI crude oil briefly eclipsed the $80 per barrel level for the first time since mid-November as OPEC+ struggles to lift output.Crude oil prices have rallied despite recent downside in global equities after hawkish Fed minutes, and are keeping an eye on Kazakhstan unrest.Front-month WTI futures have surged on …

The Institute of Supply Management’s headline Services PMI index fell to 62.0 in December versus forecasts for a fall to 66.9 from 69.1 in November. Business Activity fell to 67.6 from 74.6. Prices Paid rose to 82.5 from 82.3. New Orders fell to 61.5 from 69.7, the lowest such reading …

According to US Census Bureau data, US Factory Order rose by 1.6% MoM in November. That was slightly above the expected 1.5% gain and marked an acceleration on the 1.2% MoM gain seen back in October (which was revised up from 1.0%). Excluding transportation, orders were up 0.8% on the …

Investors are still feeling their feet as the year begins and await key US data due this week. Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced on Thursday that they will decide on a quasi-emergency declaration for parts of Japan on Friday, as reported by Reuters. A Reuters survey showed on Thursday …

There were 207,000 initial claims for unemployment benefits in the US during the week ending January 1, data published by the US Department of Labor (DoL) revealed on Thursday. This reading followed last week’s print of 200,000 (which was revised up from 198,000) and came in slightly above consensus market …

Businesses in the UK see year-ahead output price inflation at 4.5% in the three months to December, up from 4.2% in November, the Bank of England’s (BOE) Decision Maker Panel (DMP) survey revealed on Thursday.  “Annual output price inflation continued to increase in the DMP, reaching 5% on average in …