Central banking
Fed holds rates steady and notes progress on inflation
WASHINGTON – Federal Reserve officials on Wednesday held short-term interest rates steady but indicated that inflation is getting closer to target, which could open the door for future interest rate cuts. Central bankers made no obvious indications, though, that a reduction is imminent, choosing to maintain language that indicates ongoing concerns about economic conditions, albeit […]
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Japan confirms $36.8 billion currency intervention as weak yen pushes BOJ to hike interest rates
New Japanese 1000 Yen banknote on display inside the Currency Museum of the Bank of Japan’s Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies. The new banknotes will start circulate from July 3, 2024. Sopa Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images Japanese authorities spent 5.53 trillion yen ($36.8 billion) to shore up the yen in July, official […]
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Banks get bullish on the British pound despite the possibility of an imminent snapback
LONDON — With sterling as one of the best performing major currencies so far this year, analysts at various investment banks believe that the British pound still has more room to run, despite the Bank of England likely cutting interest rates in the near term. In a recent research note, experts at Goldman Sachs were […]
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HSBC reports narrow first-half profit decline, beats expectations
Aaron P | Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty Images Europe’s largest lender HSBC posted a narrow decline in pretax profit in the first half of the year, but beat expectations on the back of a high-interest rate environment. The bank posted pretax profit in the six months to June of $21.56 billion, down from […]
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Here’s everything you need to know about the Fed decision coming Wednesday
US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies before the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Hearings to examine the Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress at Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on July 9, 2024. Chris Kleponis | AFP | Getty Images This week’s Federal Reserve meeting is not much about the present but potentially […]
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BOJ to weigh rate hike next week, detail plan to halve bond buying, Reuters reports
The flag of Japan flutters at the Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo on Dec. 19, 2023. Kazuhiro Nogi | AFP | Getty Images The Bank of Japan is likely to debate whether to raise interest rates when it meets next week and unveil a plan to roughly halve bond purchases in coming years, sources said, signaling its resolve to steadily unwind its massive monetary stimulus. […]
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European Central Bank holds interest rates, says domestic price pressures ‘still high’
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, after implementing a cut in June. “Monetary policy is keeping financing conditions restrictive. At the same time, domestic price pressures are still high, services inflation is elevated and headline inflation is likely to remain above the target well into next year,” the ECB’s Governing Council […]
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Watch: ECB President Christine Lagarde speaks after rate decision
[The stream is slated to start at 8:45 a.m. ET. Please refresh the page if you do not see a player above at that time.] European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is giving a press conference following the bank’s latest monetary policy decision. The central bank left interest rates unchanged on Thursday, after implementing a cut […]
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European Central Bank set to hold rates with inflation picture muddying demand for cuts
Christine Lagarde, president of the European Central Bank, at a rates decision news conference in Frankfurt, Germany, on March 7, 2024. Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images FRANKFURT — The European Central Bank is set to keep interest rates steady this week after cutting in June for the first time since September 2019. The hold […]
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UK inflation holds steady at Bank of England’s 2% target, above expectations
Alexander Spatari | Moment | Getty Images U.K. inflation held steady at the Bank of England’s 2% target in June, Official National Statistics data showed Wednesday. The headline reading came in above analyst expectations at 1.9%, according to economists polled by Reuters, and was in line with the previous 2% reading in May. Sterling rose […]
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