(Reuters) -Oil prices were little changed on Friday but on track to end the week lower, as weaker U.S. employment data raised concerns over demand, and renewed ceasefire talks in Gaza eased worries about supply disruptions. Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $77.38 a barrel at 0642 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures inched up 15 cents to $73.16.
With the Federal Reserve considered certain to start cutting its benchmark interest rate next month, Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech Friday morning at an economic conference will be closely watched for any hints about how many additional rate cuts might be in the pipeline. Powell is expected to say the Fed has become more confident that inflation is nearing its 2% target, more than two years after it hit a painful four-decade high. Economists note that forthcoming economic data, including a monthly jobs report on Sept. 6, will help determine the size of future Fed rate cuts — whether a typical quarter-point cut or a more aggressive half-point drop — and how fast they occur.
Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 2.5% in July from a year earlier, the smallest increase since February 2022, official data showed on Friday. The core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - was lower than a 2.9% forecast in a Reuters poll, and compared with the 2.9% seen in June. Headline inflation in February was up 2.4% from the same month last year, lower than the 2.5% forecast in the poll.
U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said Thursday a judicial overhaul proposed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador poses a “risk" to Mexico's democracy and "threatens the historic commercial relationship” between Mexico and the U.S. The proposal, including a provision to require judges be elected, has spurred a fierce outcry from investors and financial institutions in recent days, with the Mexican peso steadily dropping in currency markets. “Democracies can't function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters.
Consumer price inflation is expected to stay unchanged in Japan's capital Tokyo in August, ending three months of acceleration, a Reuters poll showed, suggesting the central bank may not be in a rush to hike rates. The same poll also found factory output probably rebounded and retail sales kept growing in July, underscoring the strength of Japan's economy after better-than-expected April-June gross domestic product data last week. Moderation in the Tokyo core CPI, the leading indicator of nationwide inflation trends, could cool hawkish views for the Bank of Japan's monetary normalisation schedule after the central bank raised its short-term policy rate to 0.25% in July.
The legislature of Mexico City approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s Thursday, limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation in the previous year. Rents in the vast city of 9 million inhabitants were essentially frozen in the 1940s, and remained so for decades on older buildings. Mexico City, like many around the world, had seen complaints that rents were shooting up because of digital nomads and short-term rentals.
(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s annual gathering in Jackson Hole, Wyoming kicked off Thursday evening with a dinner filled with central bankers, economists and reporters from the around the world. Here’s what to expect from the three-day conference:Most Read from BloombergChicago's Migrant Surge Is Stirring Trouble for Democrats in DNC Host CityUK Transport Minister Clears Path for More 20mph Speed ZonesWith Self-Driving Vans, Hamburg Tries to Make Microtransit WorkThe S
The Fed’s reliance on data has made it too slow in deciding whether to cut rates, which could mess up the soft landing, says Fundstrat managing partner Tom Lee.
(Bloomberg) -- Oil headed for a weekly loss — after hitting the lowest close since January midweek — on a challenging demand outlook, and US efforts to secure a cease-fire in Gaza.Most Read from BloombergChicago's Migrant Surge Is Stirring Trouble for Democrats in DNC Host CityUK Transport Minister Clears Path for More 20mph Speed ZonesWith Self-Driving Vans, Hamburg Tries to Make Microtransit WorkThe Serious Work That Free Play Can DoWest Texas Intermediate was steady near $73 a barrel, more th
A Southern California woman fed up with her packages getting stolen out of her post office box sent an Apple AirTag to the address and cleverly tracked down the suspected thief, police said. The woman had had several items stolen from her mailbox at the Los Alamos Post Office already when she thought of the idea, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday. On Monday morning, sheriff's deputies were called to the post office where the woman told officials her mail had been stolen again — including the package with the AirTag.