Page 5 - Us Federal Agency

JPMorgan's CEO urges US Fed to wait past June before cutting rates

Markets see an 84% probability the Fed will lower rates in June and have priced in 90 basis points of cuts for the year

US Congress comes out with 6 spending bills to avoid partial shutdown

Congressional leaders on Sunday came out with a package of six bills setting full-year spending levels for some federal agencies, a step forward in a long overdue funding process beset by sharp political divisions between the two parties as well as infighting among House Republicans. The release of the text of legislation over the weekend was designed to meet the House's rule to give lawmakers at least 72 hours to study a bill before voting. And it's a promising sign that lawmakers will avoid a partial shutdown that would kick in at 12:01 am Saturday for those agencies covered under the bill, such as Veterans Affairs, Agriculture, Transportation, Justice and others. Congressional leaders hope to complete votes on the package this week and continue negotiations on the remaining six annual spending bills to pass them before a March 22 deadline. House Speaker Mike Johnson highlighted some key policy and spending wins for conservatives, even as many of his GOP colleagues consider the ..

More time needed to weigh prospect of rate cut: Fed's Raphael Bostic

My expectation is that the rate of inflation will continue to decline, but more slowly than the pace implied by where the markets signal monetary policy should be, he said

Oil prices fall as US jobs data dents hope for near-term rate cuts

High interest rates, which tend to dampen economic growth and oil demand, in major economies like the United States and the euro zone appear to be here to stay in the near term

Besides avoiding recession, US also creating hundreds of thousands of jobs

The nation's employers delivered a stunning burst of hiring to begin 2024, adding 353,000 jobs in January in the latest sign of the economy's continuing ability to shrug off the highest interest rates in two decades. Friday's government report showed that last month's job gain roughly twice what economists had predicted topped the December gain of 333,000, a figure that was itself revised sharply higher. The unemployment rate stayed at 3.7 per cent, just above a half-century low. Wages rose unexpectedly fast in January, too. Average hourly pay climbed a sharp 0.6 per cent from December, the fastest monthly gain in nearly two years, and 4.5 per cent from January 2023. The strong hiring and wage growth could complicate or delay the Federal Reserve's intention to start cutting interest rates later this year. The latest gains showcased employers' willingness to keep hiring to meet steady consumer spending. It comes as the intensifying presidential campaign is pivoting in no small par

Dollar hovers near seven-week high as Fed cut expectations shift to May

The dollar has been buoyed by U.S. economic data suggesting the Fed can wait longer before cutting interest rates

Rupee expected to weaken as odds of Fed rate cut in March diminish

The rupee's intraday range in the last four sessions has been just 2 to 6 paisa

Budget highlights: GST on health insurance must be reduced, says Niva Bupa

Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman is set to table the interim budget for 2024-25 on Thursday, February 1

Oil settles at highest in nearly eight weeks on strong economic growth

Both benchmarks made weekly gains of more than 6%, marking their biggest weekly increase since the week ending Oct. 13 after the start of the Israel-Hamas conflict in Gaza

Global stock index edges up, dollar falls after US inflation reading

The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 49 nations, gained 0.12%, after earlier hitting its highest level in almost two years

China doubles down on moves to mend its economy, fend off financial crisis

China's leaders launched a barrage of new policies this week to prop up languishing financial markets and rekindle growth in the world's second-largest economy. The moves to support lending and spending with billions of dollars of fresh cash gathered pace when the central bank cut bank reserve requirements and issued new rules to encourage banks to lend more to property companies. A collapse in China's real estate market has been one of the key factors hindering the country's recovery from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. What's at stake: stable financial markets and a major driver of global economic growth. HOW IS THE CHINESE ECONOMY DOING? The Chinese economy grew at a 5.2% annual pace in 2023, exceeding the government's target, and many indicators including factory output and retail sales show signs of improvement. But most economists are forecasting a slowdown this year and next that will drag on global growth. Meanwhile, Chinese stock markets have swooned since late 2023,

US antitrust inquiry targets OpenAI, Anthropic's deals with big tech firms

In a statement, Microsoft said it would provide the FTC information to complete its review and that collaboration by American companies put the US ahead in AI

US growth likely slowed last quarter but still exhibited resilience

The nation's economy was supposed to have sunk into recession by now, dragged down by the highest interest rates in two decades and a resulting slump in borrowing and spending. Instead, the US economy has kept chugging along. Even more encouraging, inflation, which touched a four-decade high in 2022, has edged steadily lower without the painful layoffs that most economists had thought would be necessary to slow the acceleration of prices. On Thursday, the Commerce Department is expected to report that the nation's gross domestic product the economy's total output of goods and services rose at an annual rate of around 2 per cent from October through December. That would mark a deceleration from a vigorous 4.9 per cent growth rate in the July-September quarter. But it would still showcase the surprising durability of the world's largest economy, marking the sixth straight quarter in which GDP has expanded at a solid annual pace of 2 per cent or more. Helping fuel that growth has bee

Ahead of index inclusion, top Indian fund managers look to boost inflow

The cohort are betting on inclusion in global bond indexes to drive returns after the central bank doused speculation of an interest-rate cut

Against expectations, Japan's budget expected to remain in Red in FY25

Japan's primary budget has largely been in deficit in the postwar era with the exception of the asset bubble period between 1986 and 1991

Federal 2020 election case: Trump's bid to hold Smith in contempt denied

The federal judge overseeing the 2020 election interference case against Donald Trump on Thursday rejected his lawyers' bid to hold special counsel Jack Smith's team in contempt for actions prosecutors took after the judge put the case on hold. But the judge said no further substantive court filings should be submitted without permission. The former president's lawyers had accused prosecutors of outrageous conduct for turning over to the defense thousands of pages of evidence and filing a motion after the judge paused the case while Trump appeals his presidential immunity claim. The defense said prosecutors were violating a court order that put the case on hold so Trump can pursue his claim in higher courts. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan said in her ruling Thursday that her Dec. 13 order pausing the case did not clearly and unambiguously prohibit those actions by Smith's team. However, she agreed with Trump to bar all parties in the case from filing any further substantive ...

Rupee ends flat, wedged between Asia FX bump, foreign banks' dollar buys

The rupee closed at 83.1225 against the U.S. dollar, barely changed from its close at 83.1375 in the previous session

Time to rebuild trust, cooperation with each other: WEF Chair Klaus Schwab

As nearly 3,000 global leaders assembled here to discuss challenges and crises facing the world, the host World Economic Forum on Tuesday said trust and cooperation are a must in a connected yet divided world. It said the most challenging issues before the world including on security, climate and cyber fronts are not limited by borders and they travel without passports, but cooperation was still possible and was happening. WEF Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab said this occasion should be used as an opportunity to rebuild trust in each other. At the first plenary of the WEF Annual Meeting 2024, Schwab said the world today may be more connected geographically but it is also a lot more divided and fragmented. "We are also seeing unprecedented risks on technology front," he said. "Let's use this meeting to rebuild trust in each of us for the future of humanity," he said. WEF president Borge Brende said, "We have nearly 3,000 participants from more than 125 countries here at

Dollar up 0.47%, hits 1-month high amid tempered expectations of rate cut

Comments from European Central Bank officials downplaying the idea of early rate cuts overshadowed the outlook for borrowing costs globally

German economy shrinks 0.3%, costly energy, higher interest rates to blame

Germany's economy shrank 0.3 per cent last year as Europe's former powerhouse struggled with more expensive energy, higher interest rates, lack of skilled labour and a homegrown budget crisis. Europe's largest economy has been mired in stagnation since the last months of 2022 amid those multiple challenges. The International Monetary Fund expected Germany to be the worst-performing major developed economy last year, a major turnaround from its place as a model for how to expand when other nations were struggling. German's economy likely also shrank 0.3 per cent in the fourth quarter after stagnating in the third quarter, the Federal Statistical Office said on Monday in an initial rough estimate. Official figures for the last three months of 2023 are expected to be announced January 30. Meanwhile, there's an ongoing debate about why Germany has stalled. Energy intensive industries must pay higher natural gas prices after losing Russia's cheap supply following its invasion of Ukraine,