UK inflation slides to 3.4%, below expectations

Plane contrails streak across the sky over Regent Street on February 15, 2024 in London, England.  Dan Kitwood | Getty Images U.K. inflation came in lower than expected at 3.4% year-on-year in February, official figures showed Wednesday, down from 4% in January. Month-on-month, the headline consumer price index rose by 0.6%, returning to positive territory … Read more

What to expect from the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting Wednesday

Federal Reserve Bank Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before the House Financial Services Committee in the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill on March 06, 2024 in Washington, DC.  Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images The Federal Reserve has a lot to do at its meeting this week, but ultimately may not end up doing a … Read more

The ocean freight market is in standoff as peak contract season hits

March and April are critical months for ocean carriers looking to ink annual freight contracts with shippers, including the world’s biggest retailers, but this year contract season is turning into a waiting game. The $2,500 spread between spot market rates and long-term freight contract rates for Asia to U.S. West Coast containers has reached its … Read more

Fed and others to make ‘major progress’ on rates this year: BIS chief

An eagle tops the U.S. Federal Reserve building’s facade in Washington, July 31, 2013. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst/ Jonathan Ernst | Reuters The Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank look poised to make “major progress” in cutting interest rates this year, according to the central bank of central banks. Agustín Carstens, general manager of the Bank … Read more

Saudi Arabia wealth fund in talks to acquire national airline Saudia: Report

Boeing 787 Dreamliner Saudi Arabian. Aircraft to Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Fiumicino (Italia), Nov. 11, 2021 Massimo Insabato/Archivio Massimo Insabato/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty Images Saudi Arabia’s behemoth sovereign wealth fund is in talks to buy the kingdom’s national airline Saudia, Bloomberg reported over the weekend, citing people familiar with the matter. The reported move … Read more

China’s economy shows signs of improvement, but its property sector is still in the doldrums

HONG KONG — China’s manufacturing and investment improved in the first two months of the year, while weakness in the property sector weighed on the economy, the National Bureau of Statistics said Monday. The report said industrial output rose 7% from a year earlier in January-February, better than analysts had forecast. Spending on factories and … Read more

Denmark leads, with top four from Europe

Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Four of investors’ top five favorite destinations are in Europe, according to the Milken Institute’s Global Opportunity Index (GOI) report. Denmark topped this year’s rankings, scoring first on business perception, a measure of the … Read more

Sachs, Roubini and Zandi on how the climate crisis affects economy

As the climate crisis continues to pose a global threat, top economists are debating its effect on the U.S. economy. Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics, projects “physical risks” will be the biggest economic cost over the next 10 to 20 years. These are damages caused by natural disasters, which are now occurring at … Read more

HSBC is ‘very positive’ about the future of China’s economy, CFO says

The Hong Kong observation wheel and the HSBC building in Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. Ucg | Universal Images Group | Getty Images HSBC is “very positive” about the mid- to long-term outlook for the Chinese economy despite current headwinds, the British bank’s chief financial officer told CNBC. Growth in China has been weighed down … Read more

Bitcoin may lose its reputation as a volatile asset. Here’s why

Bitcoin may start to lose its reputation as a volatile asset. According to Bitwise Asset Management’s Matt Hougan, the cryptocurrency’s wild price swings have come down substantially over the past decade. “What’s driving the bitcoin market right now is a simple demand-supply imbalance,” the firm’s chief investment officer told CNBC’s “ETF Edge” on Monday. “We … Read more