US Following the first monthly contraction in five months in December, existing home sales rebounded 3.3% in January to a 5.69 million-unit rate, reaching the highest level in the post-recession period. Single-family sales rose 2.6% from an upwardly revised December print, and condos/co-ops grew 8.3% during the month. The jump in sales activity in January [...]
US Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) Chair Yellen went to Capitol Hill for her semiannual testimony. While uneventful for the most part, clear signals were sent that the FOMC intends to hike rates at a slightly faster pace this year. With respect to understanding when the FOMC may decide to halt reinvestments of maturing portfolio [...]
Headlines this month have suggested that the rocky relationship between the US and China is on a path to improvement, following the acceptance of the ‘one China’ policy. While this does seem to have reversed some of the political tension, it does appear to be a case of giving with one hand and taking with [...]
US International trade data for December was released leaving participants with little to chew on by way of economic data. The trade deficit narrowed to $44.3 billion from $45.7 billion in the prior month, beating economists’ expectations for a more modest pullback (to $45.0 billion). Exports bounced back after two months of contraction, while imports [...]
US The Federal Reserve held rates steady this week, as widely expected. It reiterated the strengthening US domestic outlook would warrant gradual policy tightening over the medium term. No clues were given on the timing of the next move, likely because uncertainty surrounds the unfolding of the new administration’s policy, and the Fed can afford [...]
