Wall Street analysts had hoped the housing market would show signs of life in 2024. Instead, it remained stagnant. The reason is largely tied to mortgage rates’ bumpy path this year alongside low supply and record home prices. In January, the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate was hovering around 6.6%, according to Freddie Mac. Now, … Read more
Continued economic strength along with inflationary policies expected from President-elect Donald Trump could mean the Federal Reserve may have to resort to rate hikes in 2025, a top economist warned. Wall Street just threw a tantrum over indications that the Federal Reserve will make fewer rates cuts than expected next year, but a top economist … Read more
The holidays are here. But many investors may be feeling like they made it onto the naughty list as they contend with challenges from turmoil in Washington as President-elect Donald Trump and Elon Musk flex their newfound political power to a souring outlook on the Fed’s interest rate policy, with fewer cuts expected to come … Read more
(Bloomberg) — President-elect Donald Trump is nominating Stephen Miran to lead his Council of Economic Advisers, enlisting a former Treasury official who served in Washington during his first administration. Most Read from Bloomberg “Steve will work with the rest of my economic team to deliver a great economic boom that lifts up all Americans,” Trump … Read more
By Sinéad Carew and Amanda Cooper NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -A global equity index rose on Monday with help from Wall Street, and U.S. Treasury yields climbed to an almost seven-month high while data showed a deterioration in U.S. consumer confidence and investors prepared for fewer Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2025. In U.S. equities, Nasdaq … Read more
By Mark John (Reuters) – No sooner had the global economy started to put the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic behind it than a whole new set of challenges opened up for 2025. In 2024, the world’s central banks were finally able to start lowering interest rates after largely winning the battle against inflation without … Read more
By Nicole Jao NEW YORK (Reuters) -Oil prices edged lower on Monday in thin trade ahead of the Christmas holiday on concerns about a supply surplus next year and a strengthened dollar. Brent crude futures settled down 31 cents, or 0.43%, at $72.63 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures fell 22 cents, or … Read more
By Chuck Mikolajczak NEW YORK (Reuters) -The dollar edged higher on Tuesday in thin holiday trading as the expected slower path of interest rate cuts from the U.S. Federal Reserve compared with other global central banks continued to command market direction. The greenback has jumped more than 7% since the end of September, powered in … Read more
By Bing Hong Lok SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s key consumer price gauge rose 1.9% in November on a yearly basis, lower than economists’ forecasts and the smallest rise in nearly three years, official data showed on Monday. The core inflation rate – which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs – was lower than the … Read more
(Bloomberg) — Mary Daly was a young economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco in the late 1990s when she helped then-Chair Alan Greenspan identify the last great surge in US productivity. She’s starting to think it’s happening again, driven this time by artificial intelligence. Most Read from Bloomberg “We’re seeing it everywhere,” … Read more