By Lucy Craymer WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand’s central bank unexpectedly raised its cash rate by 50 basis points to a more than 14-year high of 5.25% on Wednesday, reiterating that inflation was still too high and persistent. Twenty-two of 24 economists in a Reuters poll had forecast the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ)…
By Jamie McGeever (Reuters) – A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever. A smattering of inflation data, PMIs and an interest rate decision will grab investors’ attention in the Asian session on Wednesday, against an increasingly gloomy backdrop following the latest warning that the U.S. economy is losing steam. Annual…
(Reuters) – Japan’s services sector activity at the fastest pace in over nine years in March, a private sector survey showed on Wednesday, suggesting that the post-COVID bounce was gathering steam and providing some offset to a still-weak factory sector. The final au Jibun Bank Japan Services purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to a seasonally…
(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester said Tuesday that while the economy appears on a path toward slowing down, the central bank likely has more rate rises ahead of it. “In my modal projection, to put inflation on a sustained downward trajectory to 2% and to keep inflation expectations anchored, monetary…
By Dietrich Knauth and Mike Spector (Reuters) -Johnson & Johnson has agreed to pay $8.9 billion to settle tens of thousands of lawsuits alleging that talc in its iconic Baby Powder and other products caused cancer, the company said. The amount dwarfs J&J’s original offer of $2 billion. The agreement follows a January appeals court…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Tuesday called for quicker action to resolve several outstanding sovereign debt restructuring cases and urged the International Monetary Fund to press all bilateral creditors to finalize such deals. The Treasury said Yellen raised the issue during meetings with IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and Spanish Economy Minister…
By Caroline Valetkevitch NEW YORK (Reuters) – World stock indexes declined on Tuesday, with Wall Street well into negative territory in afternoon trading, while the U.S. dollar fell to a two-month low and Treasury yields eased after data suggesting a cooling in the U.S. labor market. The U.S. Labor Department report showed U.S. job openings…
By Brendan Pierson and Dietrich Knauth (Reuters) – Federal appeals court judges on Tuesday appeared skeptical of 3M’s bid to use the bankruptcy of its subsidiary Aearo Technologies to shield itself from nearly 260,000 lawsuits over allegedly defective military-issue earplugs. Paul Clement, a lawyer for Aearo, urged a three-judge panel of the 7th U.S. Circuit…
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Internal Revenue Service will unveil its long-awaited 10-year spending plan for $80 billion in new funding to beef up enforcement and taxpayer services, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said on Tuesday, promising major investments in new technology and services. In prepared remarks at the swearing-in ceremony of new IRS Commissioner Danny…
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. job openings dropped to their lowest level in nearly two years in February, suggesting that labor market conditions were finally easing, welcome news for the Federal Reserve as it considers whether to pause its interest rate hiking cycle. Despite the larger-than-expected decline in job vacancies reported by the…