Week Ending 15th February 2019 Equities surged to a 10-week high as the U.S. consumer outlook brightened and positive developments in China trade talks overshadowed lingering concerns about global growth. Treasury yields climbed, while the dollar retreated after an early-morning rally. The S&P 500 Index closed at session highs Friday, with all sectors gaining, on […]

Retail sales bounced back sharply in January, rising by 1% on the previous month, official figures showed. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the amount of goods sold rose by 1%, after falling by 0.7% in December, with discounts in clothing helping to boost sales. Compared with a year ago, retail sales were 4.2% […]

The US economy added a stronger-than-expected 304,000 jobs in January, official figures have shown. The figure was far in excess of economists’ forecasts of 165,000. However, December’s jobs growth figure was revised to 222,000, down from an initial estimate of 312,000. Last month saw jobs being added in leisure and hospitality, construction, health care, transportation […]

Growth in the UK’s economy slowed in the three months to November, expanding at its weakest pace in six months. The economy grew by 0.3% during the period, less than the 0.4% in the three months to October, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said. The ONS said manufacturers suffered their longest period of monthly […]

The US economy created many more jobs than expected in December, according to the latest government data. Employers added 312,000 jobs, far ahead of predictions of 177,000, the Labor Department said. The unemployment rate nudged higher to 3.9%, but is still near historic lows. Average hourly pay increased at an annual rate of 3.2% – […]

Week Ending 28th December 2018 U.S. stocks halted a two-day rally as thin trading added to already-volatile markets ahead of the weekend. Treasuries rose. The S&P 500 ended the session lower, but held onto its first weekly gain in a month. Trading was still volatile after a roller-coaster session Thursday that saw the biggest reversal […]

The Federal Reserve has raised interest rates again, in spite of warnings from Donald Trump against the move. Officials at the US central bank voted to lift the Fed’s key interest rate by 0.25%, to a target range of 2.25%-2.5%. But they also said future increases could come at a slower pace amid concerns about […]

The euro has fallen against the dollar after disappointing French and German economic surveys dismayed the markets. In France, private sector business activity contracted for the first time in two and a half years as the “gilets jaunes” protests took their toll. In Germany, private sector activity slowed to a four-year low. The surveys pointed […]

US President Donald Trump and leaders from Canada and Mexico have signed the successor to the North American Free Trade Agreement (Nafta). The revised deal has been renamed as the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, or USMCA. Renegotiating Nafta was a key pledge of Mr Trump’s 2016 White House campaign. The US President claimed the update “changes […]

Wall Street shares have risen sharply after the US central bank indicated there may not be as many future interest rate rises. In a speech, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said interest rates are “just below” a neutral level that neither hastens nor slows growth. Last month, he had said the bank had a “long […]