Fed Officials Still Divided, Unsure About When and How Much To Cut Interest Rates
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve officials have continued this week to muse about cutting interest rates for the first time since December when the Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets in mid- September, but the FOMC remains divided and unsure. Despite an uptick in inflation, labor market worries have come to […]
Japan Weekahead: Producer Inflation Easing Further below 3%, Q2 GDP to Post Slight Rebound, Confirming Resilience Against Drag from Tariffs, High Costs of Living
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic events for the coming week when many people take some time off for the annual Obon holiday around Aug. 15 to bring in and send back their ancestors’ sprits. It is not a public holiday and markets will stay open but trading volumes are […]
Preview: Bank of Canada Set to Pause for 3rd Straight Meeting amid Sticky Core Inflation, Uncertainty over US Trade Row Impact on Growth, Costs
–BOC Widely Expected to Keep Policy Rate at 2.75% Wednesday After 7 Rate Cuts Totaling 225 Basis Points from June 2024 Until March 2025–Focus is on Whether Bank will Continue to ‘Proceed Carefully’ and Remain ‘Less Forward-Looking Than Usual’ By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The Bank of Canada is widely expected to maintain its policy […]
Japan Weekahead: Ruling Coalition May Lose in Upper House Election; Tokyo CPI to Show Further Easing but Inflation Seen Still around 3% Amid High Processed Food Prices
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic and political events for the coming week. – Sunday, July 20 Voting and vote counting for the House of Councillors general elections. Opinion polls show the ruling coalition led by the conservative Liberal Democratic Party may lose a majority in the upper house, which […]
Japan Weekahead: Machinery Orders, Exports Seen Down as Trump Tariffs Hit Auto, Steel Makers; Inflation to Ease on Fuel Subsidies but Still Above 3% amid High Rice Prices
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic events for the coming week. Stiff U.S. tariffs on imports are having some cooling effects on the auto and steel industries as seen in recent production and trade data but not pushing the global or domestic economy into a tailspin. Inflation in Japan, now […]
Japan Weekahead: Fuel Subsidies, Softer Global Demand Seen Easing Producer Inflation Further While Real Wages Slow to Recover amid High Costs of Living
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Here are the key Japanese economic events for the coming week. In the previous week, the Bank of Japan’s quarterly business survey for June showed confidence among major manufacturers unexpectedly posted a slight pickup, led by steel mills, oil refineries and paper/pulp makers thanks to lower materials costs, while producers […]
TARIFFS STATE OF PLAY: Trump Tariffs Go Global – A Small Start Compared to What’s Coming
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The new worldwide 25% U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum Wednesday – with no exemptions – piled atop the now 20% levied on China goods, 22 days away from the start of the nation’s far bigger experiment in confrontational trade policy, “reciprocal tariffs.” As expected, retaliatory tariffs also began to accumulate, first […]
Fed Gov. Cook, Other Fed Officials Tread Carefully on Monetary Policy Outlook as 2025 Begins
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook joined other Fed officials Monday in opening the new year with ambiguous comments about the outlook for monetary policy. Cook, like several colleagues, gave no indication she is eager to resume interest rate reductions in 2025, preferring to wait to see how inflation and […]
Heat Wave Boosts Japanese Consumer Inflation in July, Hitting Many Households as Government Ends Utility Subsidies
–Retail Sales Up on Seasonal Demand but Somewhat Slower as It is Dangerous to Stay Outdoors for Long –Factory Output Rebounds, Government Upgrades View –Unemployment Rate Up on Surge in Quits for Better Positions Amid Widespread Labor Shortages By Max Sato (MaceNews) – The killer heat wave is wreaking havoc across Japan, claiming many lives […]
Japan July Core CPI Annual Rate on Gradual Uptrend at 2.7% Vs. 2.6% in June as Government Ends 18-Month Utility Subsidies, Heat Wave Boosts Air Conditioner Price
–Total CPI Y/Y Rise Steady at 2.8%; Fresh Food Markups Ease After Recent Spike–Core-Core CPI (Ex-Fresh Food, Energy) Up 1.9% Vs. 2.2% amid Easing Pressure from Processed Food Costs By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Consumer inflation in Japan continued accelerating slightly in the core reading in July after the government ended 18-month long utility subsidies […]