Banking & Finance
The latest coverage of the banking and financial sectors.
Tariff hikes will backfire, and China can manage such ‘external shocks,’ a senior official says
Higher tariffs on Chinese exports will backfire, just increasing prices paid by consumers, while China can manage to weather the impact of such “external shocks,” a senior Commerce Ministry official said Friday in Beijing.
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall to 213,000, remaining near 7-month lows
The number of Americans applying for unemployment benefits fell again last week, remaining near seven-month lows.
Amazon CEO rebukes claim that return-to-office mandate is covert layoff strategy
Amazon CEO Andy Jassy rejected claims made by some staff and analysts that the company’s recently announced return-to-office strategy is a backdoor firing strategy.
Federal Reserve is set to cut interest rates again as post-election uncertainty grows
Federal Reserve officials are poised Thursday to reduce their key interest rate for a second straight time, responding to a steady slowdown of the inflation pressures that exasperated many Americans and contributed to Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.
Chip giant Nvidia overtakes Apple to become world’s highest-valued publicly traded company
Nvidia, a dominant player in AI semiconductors, had a 3% rise in its market cap Wednesday morning and is now valued higher than Apple.
Stocks and bitcoin soar after Trump’s victory, while inflation worries rise; Dow surges 1,200
The U.S. stock market, Elon Musk’s Tesla, banks and bitcoin are all storming higher Wednesday as investors bet on what Donald Trump’s return to the White House will mean for the economy and world. Among the losers the market sees: the value of the Mexican peso and potentially anyone worried about higher inflation.
U.S. Chamber of Commerce congratulates Trump after 2021 rift
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce congratulated President-elect Donald Trump on Wednesday and pledged to work with his administration on deregulation and “pro-growth” policies.
Trump win ignites crypto frenzy that sends bitcoin to a record high
The price of bitcoin hit a new high Wednesday as investors bet that former President Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election will be a boon for cryptocurrencies.
Inflation gauge closely watched by the Fed falls to lowest level since early 2021
As a presidential race profoundly shaped by Americans’ frustration with high prices nears its end, the government said Thursday that an inflation gauge closely watched by the Federal Reserve has dropped to near pre-pandemic levels.
U.S. applications for jobless benefits fall as layoffs remain at historically healthy levels
Fewer Americans filed for unemployment benefits last week as layoffs remained at historically healthy levels despite elevated interest rates.
U.S. economy grew at a solid 2.8% pace last quarter on strength of consumer spending
The U.S. economy grew at a healthy 2.8% annual rate from July through September, with consumers helping drive growth despite the weight of still-high interest rates.
Russia’s central bank raises interest rate to 21% to fight inflation boosted by military spending
Russia’s central bank on Friday raised its key interest rate by two percentage points to a record-high 21% in an effort to stem growing inflation as massive government spending on the military amid the fighting in Ukraine strains the economy’s capacity to produce goods and services and drives up workers’ wages.
Yellen says isolationism ‘made America and the world worse off’ in speech to global finance leaders
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told world financial leaders Tuesday that the U.S. economy has grown stronger because the Biden administration rejected isolationism, offering a barely veiled criticism of former President Donald Trump’s policies two weeks before the U.S. election.
Gallup poll: Most Americans worse off than four years ago
Most Americans say their families are worse off than four years ago, according to a Gallup poll that finds economic concerns at a level not seen since Bill Clinton won the presidency in 1992.
