US There are signs that the shutdown has had a negative impact on activity. The pace of expansion in the services sector decelerated in January. The ISM non-manufacturing index fell to 56.7 in January from 58.0 in December, reflecting concerns about the government shutdown, which negatively impacted new orders. Fed chairman Jerome Powell said that [...]
US US interest rates fell and risky assets rallied last week in the wake of very dovish commentary from the US Federal Reserve after the January meeting of the FMOC (Federal Open Market Committee). Policymakers seemed to go out of their way to reverse course after sending a more hawkish-than-intended signal to markets after their [...]
US President Trump agreed to reopen the federal government for three weeks while negotiations continued over how to secure the nation’s southwestern border, backing down after a month long standoff failed to force Democrats to give him billions of dollars for his long-promised wall. The president’s concession paved the way for the House and the [...]
US The steady flow of US macroeconomic data that markets and the US Federal Reserve rely on in order to gauge the health of the nation's economy has been somewhat disrupted by the partial US government shutdown. For instance, US retail sales data for the critical holiday selling season have been delayed by a lack [...]
US The Fed appears increasingly likely to hit the “pause” button in March amid financial market volatility, trade uncertainty and an overall moderation in economic growth. In a speech this week, Fed Chairman Powell reemphasized that the Fed would exercise patience and watch the economic data carefully, a sentiment that was echoed by Fed Vice [...]
US The production side of the US economy has slowed considerably, pulling down commodity prices and business confidence. December’s ISM Manufacturing survey tumbled 5.2 points to 54.1, the largest one-month drop in more than a decade. The drop in the headline index was driven primarily by an 11-point plunge in the new orders component, which [...]
US The relative lack of concern on the part of US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell surrounding the recent downdraft in risk asset markets during his post rate-hike conference on Wednesday sent markets tumbling to fresh 2018 lows. While noting the Fed is no longer on a preset course of quarterly rates hikes, he did [...]
US US consumers are catching a break on inflation just in time for the holiday shopping season. After rising for seven straight months, the consumer price index was unchanged in November. Lower prices at the pump thanks to oil prices tumbling have led to an easing in inflation. After increasing2.9% on a year-on-year basis as [...]
US The front-end of the yield curve inverted last week, with two- and three-year Treasury yields rising above the five-year yield.Given that many analysts view an inversion as an omen for an economic downturn, the inversion brought heightened sensitivity among markets to the increased probability of a recession on the horizon. It is to be [...]
US The US Federal Reserve has seemingly been on autopilot for the past two years, raising rates on a quarterly basis except in September 2017, when it announced plans to shrink the balance sheet. But minutes of the November meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee released this week indicate the Fed might switch off [...]
