Data released just moments ago from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis showed that U.S. personal income rose by $71.4 billion in June, up 0.3% from a 0.4% decline in May. The Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE), rose by 0.3% to $69.9 billion, up from a 0.2% reading in May. The PCE rose by 2.6%...
Crude oil prices stabilized at the start of European trading today, Thursday, July 31, after three consecutive sessions of gains, trading at their highest levels since June 23, ignoring a surprise rise in inventories amid Trump's threats to impose sanctions on Russia and buyers of Russian oil if a truce with Ukraine is not reached. U.S. crude (NYMEX) rose by...
The Bank of Japan decided at its meeting that concluded this morning, Thursday, July 31, to keep monetary policy and interest rates unchanged. Members voted unanimously to maintain interest rates at 0.50%, as expected, for the fourth consecutive meeting, following a hike in the December meeting. The Bank of Japan's quarterly forecasts report, issued every three months, showed the bank...
The US Federal Reserve decided, at its recently concluded meeting, to keep interest rates unchanged at 4.5%, as expected, for the fifth consecutive meeting, after a majority vote, with two members (Bowman and Waller) calling for a rate cut. Although volatility in net exports continues to impact the data, recent indicators point to a slowdown in economic activity growth in...
The Bank of Canada kept its interest rate at 2.75%, as expected, for the third consecutive meeting at its recently concluded meeting. The bank noted that although US trade policy has begun to crystallize more clearly in recent weeks, US trade actions remain unpredictable and threats of new sectoral tariffs persist. The statement added that US tariffs are disrupting Canadian...
According to a report released a short while ago by the Bureau of Economic Analysis, US gross domestic product (GDP) rose to 3.0% in the second quarter of this year, ending in June, compared to a 0.5% decline in the first quarter of last year. This exceeded expectations of 2.5% growth. The US dollar index rose 0.60%, trading at 99.27,...
The US private sector added only about 104,000 jobs in July, according to figures released just moments ago by ADP, after losing about 33,000 jobs in June's revised reading, which was downwardly revised to 23,000, compared to expectations of 77,000. In detail, the manufacturing sector added about 7,000 jobs, the construction sector added about 15,000 jobs, the trade, transportation, and...
Figures released this morning, Wednesday, July 30, during the Asian session, by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed that consumer price inflation rose by 1.9% in June year-on-year, compared to 2.1% in May, while expectations were for a steady 2.1%. Conversely, inflation rose to 2.1% in the second quarter of this year, its lowest rate since March 2021, compared...
Gold traded slightly higher in mid-European trading on Tuesday, July 29, after four consecutive sessions of declines. It traded at its lowest levels since July 9, with risk appetite increasing in the markets following the US-EU trade agreement amid market anticipation of the US Federal Reserve meeting and US employment figures. The yellow metal is trading up about 0.32% at...
After rising more than 2% in crude oil's opening session on Monday, crude oil prices stabilized at the start of European trading today, Tuesday, July 29, amid anticipation of preliminary inventory figures from the American Petroleum Institute this evening. Nymex crude oil fell by about 0.01%, trading at $66.70 a barrel, while Brent crude traded at $69.99 a barrel, down...