Week Ending 17th January 2025 Stocks climbed Friday, as the three major averages posted their first weekly gain of the new year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 334.70 points, or 0.78%, to end at 43,487.83. The S&P 500 gained 1% to 5,996.66, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.51% to 19,630.20. Big tech stocks were […]
View PostTrump tariff threat prompts IMF warning ahead of inauguration
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned against the prospects of a renewed US-led trade war, just days before Donald Trump prepares to begin his second term in the White House. The world’s lender of last resort used the latest update to its World Economic Outlook (WEO) to lay out a series of consequences for […]
View PostUK to have third-strongest G7 growth in 2025
Britain is set to have the fastest growth among major European economies this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, a boost to finance minister Rachel Reeves who is under pressure over a slowdown since her party came to power in July. The IMF on Friday raised its forecast for British growth for 2025 by […]
View PostUK Interest rate cut – but inflation will rise
The Bank of England has forecast Rachel Reeves’s first budget as chancellor will increase inflation by up to half a percentage point over the next two years, contributing to a slower decline in interest rates than previously thought. Announcing a widely anticipated 0.25 percentage point cut in the base rate to 4.75%, the Bank’s Monetary […]
View PostFears of US recession ease as job creation ticks up
A stronger performance for job creation in the United States appears to have eased financial market fears of a US recession. Closely-watched employment data showed that 142,000 net new jobs were created in the world’s largest economy last month. While that was below forecasts of 160,000, it represented a significant recovery on a downwardly revised […]
View PostUS interest rate cut more likely after inflation falls
The annual pace of price rises in the world’s largest economy fell from 3% in June to 2.9% in July, according to official figures. It comes as financial markets expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates next month for the first time since March 2020. Analysts have widely forecast that easing inflation in the […]
View PostUS interest rate forecast to be cut just once in 2024
US interest rates are to be cut just once this year, according to updated forecasts from its central bank. The cost of US borrowing was kept at a more than 20-year high despite news on Wednesday that inflation, the rate of price rises, fell to the lowest level in more than three years at 3.4%The […]
View PostUK Interest rate held and UK economy no longer in recession
The Bank of England has edged closer to a cut in interest rates, with another member of its nine-person Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voting for lower borrowing costs this month. While the MPC voted 7-2 to leave UK interest rates on hold at 5.25%, the change in the vote will be seen as a further […]
View PostFed holds US interest rates again
The US central bank, the Fed, has again kept interest rates high – at 5.25% to 5.5%. It comes despite the policymaker signaling in January that interest rate cuts were around the corner. Progress in bringing down rates and making borrowing cheaper has been hampered by rising inflation in the US. It could now be […]
View PostYellen: US economy strong
Despite a weaker-than-expected first-quarter GDP reading, the US economy is “firing on all cylinders” and inflation is on a path toward a more normal level, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday in an interview with Reuters. Yellen on Thursday was interviewed by Reuters’ editor in chief Alessandra Galloni as part of the news organization’s […]
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