world economy

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Japan’s new economy minister, Ryosei Akazawa, said on Friday that the timing of changes in the Bank of Japan’s monetary policy should be aligned with the government’s broader goal of exiting deflation. “The timing of various monetary policy changes is very important,” Akazawa said in a press conference. “It’s important that they are aligned with …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda’s efforts to lift rock-bottom borrowing costs face fresh challenges as a yen rebound and the new political leadership’s preference for loose monetary policy raise the hurdle for rate hikes. New Japanese premier Shigeru Ishiba stunned markets this week when he said the economy was not ready for further rate …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

The European labour market is starting to cool, which is worrying as it could lead to below-par investment and growth, European Central Bank policymaker Mario Centeno said on Friday. Inflation in the euro zone was under control, he also said. Markets are betting that the ECB will have to speed up interest rate cuts with …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

A Singapore court charged a top property billionaire on Friday with obstructing justice and abetting offences by a disgraced ex-transport minister jailed a day earlier in the city-state’s high-profile government graft case, Channel News Asia reported. Ong Beng Seng, the 78-year-old owner of Hotel Properties Ltd HPPS.SI and rights holder to the Singapore Grand Prix …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba formally instructed his ministers on Friday to compile a fresh economic package to cushion the blow to households from rising living costs, as the new government makes its top priority an exit from deflation. The step comes as Ishiba, previously seen as a proponent of fiscal austerity, now stresses ahead …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Growth in India’s dominant services sector remained robust but slackened to a 10-month low in September as demand slowed, a business survey showed on Friday. The HSBC final India Services purchasing managers’ index, compiled by S&P Global, fell to 57.7 in September from a five-month high of 60.9 in August and was below a preliminary …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Worries about risks to the UK financial system posed by a global economic downturn have risen sharply to their highest level since the second half of 2019, a Bank of England (BOE) survey showed on Wednesday. The Bank’s twice-yearly systemic risk survey polled 55 financial firms between July 23 and August 12 and asked each …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

The European Central Bank’s chief supervisor pressed her case for cross-border bank mergers on Friday as Italy’s UniCredit CRDI.MI considered a bid for Germany’s Commerzbank CBKG.DE after taking a large stake last month. Europe’s biggest banks tend to focus on their home markets, making them relatively small and inefficient compared to their U.S. peers, but …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

U.S. job gains increased by the most in six months in September and the unemployment rate fell to 4.1%, pointing to a resilient economy that likely does not need the Federal Reserve to deliver large interest rate cuts for the rest of this year. In addition to the better-than expected increase in nonfarm payrolls reported …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

A surge in U.S. job growth has financial markets betting the Federal Reserve will follow last month’s half-point interest rate reduction with smaller moves, and ignited a debate over whether the policy rate ends up at a higher level than previously expected. A Labor Department report on Friday showed employers added 254,000 jobs in September, …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 5:00 pm

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban warned on Friday that the European Union was headed for an “economic cold war” with China as the bloc’s leaders prepared for a pivotal vote on imposing tariffs on imports of Chinese-made electric cars (EVs). EU member states will vote on Friday on whether to impose tariffs for the next …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 10:00 am

Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Donald Trump tweeted in March of 2018 when he was U.S. president, just months before kicking off in earnest one of the largest trade conflicts in modern history. The ensuing campaign of tit-for-tat tariffs between Washington and Beijing hardly proved him right: in June, China notched up …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 4 October 2024 at 10:00 am

Fed’s former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke used to quip, “monetary policy is 98% talk and only 2% action.” Perhaps his numbers were a little exaggerated, but there’s no doubt that the financial market impact of policymakers’ signals can be just as powerful as their actual decisions. If not more so. Markets are forward-looking. It’s …

by hellenicshippingnews… on 3 October 2024 at 9:00 pm

Growth in Germany’s services sector slowed for a fourth consecutive month in September, coming to a near standstill, a survey showed on Thursday, as falling demand and recession concerns painted a gloomy picture for Europe’s biggest economy. The HCOB final services Purchasing Managers’ Index fell to 50.6 from 51.2 in August. Hitting a six-month low, …