WASHINGTON (AP) — U.S. consumers grew more confident for the second month in a row as gas prices continued to fall. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index rose to 108 in September, from 103.6 in August. The back-to-back monthly increases follow three straight monthly declines as American households were hammered by…
BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil’s central bank highlighted on Tuesday the lack of consensus among policymakers for its decision last week to pause an aggressive monetary policy cycle, noting that a further “residual” interest rate hike was “widely debated.” In the minutes of its Sept. 20-21 meeting, policymakers reinforced their cautious stance in the fight against…
NEW YORK (AP) — Walmart is teaming up with a fertility startup to offer benefits under its insurance plan that will help its workers expand their families. The nation’s largest retailer and private employer said Tuesday it’s partnering with New York-based Kindbody to offer benefits such as in vitro fertilization as well as fertility testing…
LONDON (AP) — The British pound stabilized Tuesday as U.K. authorities tried to ease investor concerns after the biggest tax cuts in 50 years sent the currency tumbling to a record low and prompted some businesses to predict a devastating combination of a weak currency and rising interest rates. The turmoil is already having real-world…
WASHINGTON(Reuters) – New orders for U.S.-made capital goods increased more than expected in August, suggesting a rebound in business spending on equipment in the third quarter, though some of the rise in orders reflected higher prices. Orders for non-defense capital goods excluding aircraft, a closely watched proxy for business spending plans, surged 1.3% last month,…
ROME (AP) — The European Commission signed off Tuesday on the next 21-billion-euro ($20.2 billion) tranche of Italy’s pandemic recovery funds, a welcome infusion that comes amid questions about whether Giorgia Meloni and her euroskeptic party, which won the national election, will be able to keep the funding coming. The outgoing government of Premier Mario…
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Denmark believes “deliberate actions” caused big leaks in two natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea from Russia to Germany, and seismologists said powerful explosions preceded the leaks. European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage amid the energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. Although filled…
By Marc Jones and Lindsay Dunsmuir (Reuters) -The U.S. Federal Reserve will need to raise interest rates to a range between 4.50% and 4.75%, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Tuesday, a more aggressive stance than he has previously embraced that underscores the central bank’s hardening resolve to quash excessively high inflation. Evans also…
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Kremlin-orchestrated referendums that are expected to serve as a pretext for Moscow to annex Russian-held regions of Ukraine concluded Tuesday as the preordained outcome of the votes heightened tension between Russia and the West. Moscow-backed officials in the four occupied regions in southern and eastern Ukraine said polls closed Tuesday afternoon…
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed, Carolina Mandl and Dhara Ranasinghe NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -Trading in tumultuous foreign exchange markets is akin to being in a casino right now, according to some traders navigating markets that have been whipsawed as central banks and governments try to right their economies. In the last week, sleep-deprived traders have worked…
