The risks of the Federal Reserve moving too far with interest rate hikes, and slowing the economy more than necessary, have become “more balanced” with those of not moving high enough to control inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said on Friday in remarks reaffirming the U.S. central bank’s intent to be cautious in its upcoming monetary policy decisions. Noting that a key measure of inflation averaged 2.5% over the six months ending in October, near the Fed’s 2% target, Powell said it was clear that U.S. monetary policy was slowing ...

U.S. manufacturing remained subdued in November, according to a survey on Friday that also showed factory employment declining. The Institute for Supply Management (ISM) said that its manufacturing PMI was unchanged at 46.7 last month. It was the 13th consecutive month that the PMI stayed below 50, which indicates contraction in manufacturing. That is the longest such stretch since the period from August 2000 to January 2002. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index creeping up to 47.6. According to the ISM, a PMI reading below 48.7 over a ...

The broad-based downturn in euro zone manufacturing activity eased slightly last month but the sector remained deeply rooted in contractionary territory, prompting factories to trim staffing levels for a sixth straight month. HCOB’s final euro zone manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), compiled by S&P Global, rose to 44.2 in November from October’s 43.1, above a preliminary estimate of 43.8. A reading below 50 indicates a contraction in activity. An index measuring output, which feeds into a composite PMI due on Tuesday and seen as a good gauge of economic health, ...

Traders on Thursday maintained bets the Federal Reserve will hold interest rates steady for three more meetings before starting to cut interest rates, after a government report showed inflation edging lower. Futures contracts that settle to the Fed’s policy rate reflected a better-than-even probability that the U.S. central bank will deliver its first reduction to the benchmark target at the May meeting, to a 5%-to-5.25% range from 5.25% to 5.50% currently. The personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE) increased 3.0% last month from a year earlier, the Commerce Department’s Bureau ...

If cash has been king, the Fed may be plotting regicide. As the Federal Reserve’s policy ‘pivot’ draws into view, investors face a $6 trillion question – where to deploy this record amount of cash if the beefy interest rate returns drawing people there evaporate again? Earning short-term rates not seen for well over a decade, the attraction of 5% cash is considerable and raises a high bar for other assets to perform in such an uncertain economic environment. But once the first Fed cut comes into view, that money ...

Australia’s relationship with China remains fractious even as the country seeks to mend ties with its largest trading partner. The previous Australian government’s support for an international inquiry into China’s handling of the coronavirus had invited crippling export curbs from Beijing — something from which Australia is yet to recover from. While trade compulsions have forced the Asia-Pacific nation to reach out to China, security concerns over Beijing’s South China Sea claims have prevented a reset in ties. “Canberra would not use the word ‘reset,’” said Darren Lim, a senior ...

Financial stability risks emanating from the prolonged property stress, along with a slower economy and vulnerability in some local governments’ balance sheets, are driving Chinese policymakers to ratchet up support, says Fitch Ratings. The central authorities reiterated the necessity of addressing risks more systematically across the financial sector and preserving overall stability at last month’s twice-a-decade Central Financial Work Conference. We believe this implies more policy support in the offing, channelled at least partly through the banks. The extended decline in property sales continues to weigh on non-defaulted developers’ liquidity ...

Africa’s economic growth will slow this year and only partially recover in 2024, the African Development Bank (AfDB) said on Wednesday as it slashed its GDP forecasts for the continent amid political instability, weak global growth and high interest rates. Real GDP growth is set to fall to 3.4% this year from 4% in 2022, before rising to 3.8% in 2024, the AfDB said in a report. In May, it predicted the economy would expand 4% in 2023 and 4.3% in 2024, after growing 3.8% in 2022. The “scarring long-term ...

If scoring your dream job seems impossible, meet Priyanka Naik. Not long ago the tech executive was successfully helping to lead partnerships for social media site Twitter, now called X. Her dream, though, was to be a vegan chef. Now Naik is a Food Network champion and author of the cookbook, “The Modern Tiffin.” She appeared in a “Today” show Thanksgiving segment alongside celebrity chefs like Bobby Flay. “I always had a mission to make cooking an actual career that could pay my bills,” Naik said. Therein lies the challenge: ...

Still mostly an energy story The disinflationary process proved again more marked than expected in November. According to preliminary ISTAT data, the national headline inflation came in at 0.8% YoY (from 1.7% YoY in October), the lowest level since March 2021. Once more, the main driver of the yearly decline was energy goods, both regulated ones (-36% YoY from -36% in October) and non-regulated (-22.5% YoY from -17.7%), helped to a smaller extent by non-fresh food, recreational services and transport services. These falls more than compensated for a moderate uptick ...

As holiday shoppers return items purchased during Black Friday and Cyber Monday onlineshopping sprees, more U.S. retailers could tell them to keep items that cost more to ship backthan they are worth. This year, 59% retailers offer so-called “returnless” or “keep it” policies for unwanted products whose returns costs exceed their value, according to returns services firm goTRG, which surveyed 500 executives at 21 major retailers, including Walmart WMT.N and Amazon.com. Last year, 500 retail executives said 26% of companies had such policies, said goTRG CEO Sender Shamiss, whose company ...

Walmart is importing more goods to the United States from India and reducing its reliance upon China as it looks to cut costs and diversify its supply chain, data seen by Reuters shows. The world’s largest retailer shipped one quarter of its U.S. imports from India between January and August this year, according to bill of lading figures shared with Reuters by data firm Import Yeti. That compared with just 2% in 2018. The data shows that only 60% of its shipments came from China during the same period, down ...

Australian business investment rose to an eight-year high in the September quarter thanks to a rebound in mining, while plans for future spending were upgraded in a much-needed boost for economic growth. Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday showed private capital spending rose a real 0.6% in the third quarter from the previous quarter, led by a 5.6% increase in the mining sector. Total spending of A$39.9 billion ($26.43 billion) was the highest since late 2015 and almost 11% higher than a year earlier, encouraged in part ...

India’s infrastructure output rose 12.1% year-on-year in October with growth across all sectors, government data showed on Thursday. Infrastructure output, which comprises eight sectors including coal and electricity, accounts for nearly 40% of industrial production. Electricity generation grew 20.3% in the month, coal production rose 18.4% and the steel sector expanded 11%, the figures showed. Cement output increased 17.1% in October while crude oil production grew 1.3%. In the first seven months of the financial year that started on April 1, infrastructure output rose 8.6% year on year, the data ...

Euro banknotes are set to get a new design with themes focused on European culture, birds and rivers in an effort to make them more relatable, the European Central Bank said on Thursday. Due towards the end of the decade at the earliest, the banknotes are also aimed at reassuring the public that cash is here to stay, even as the ECB works on launching a digital version of its own currency, possibly around the same as it rolls out the new bills. Banknotes under the culture theme could depict ...