Some big institutional investors are pivoting from the AI chipmaker toward the world’s top cryptocurrency. Many billionaire investors loaded up on Nvidia’s (NVDA 3.10%) stock as it soared over the past few years. That wasn’t surprising, since its soaring sales of artificial intelligence (AI)-oriented data center GPUs turned it into one of the market’s hottest […]
China left its benchmark lending rates unchanged Monday, as Beijing contends with a weakening yuan while awaiting policy clues from the incoming Donald Trump administration. The People’s Bank of China held the 1-year loan prime rate at 3.1%, and the 5-year LPR at 3.6%, according to the PBOC statement. The 1-year LPR determines rates on […]
Mortgage rates topped 7% this week, a key psychological threshold, in a sign of the US housing market’s unrelenting affordability challenges. The average rate on a standard, 30-year fixed mortgage was 7.04% in the week ending January 16, according to a survey of lenders released Thursday by Freddie Mac. It’s the fifth consecutive weekly increase […]
U.S. manufacturing output surged in December likely as production at Boeing picked up following the end of a crippling strike by factory workers at the aerospace giant. Factory output increased 0.6% last month after an upwardly revised 0.4% rebound in November, the Federal Reserve said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast production rising […]
LONDON — Traders bet on more Bank of England rate cuts this year after weak retail sales data added to the latest in a run of data surprises this week. Sales volumes fell 0.3% month-on-month in December, the Office for National Statistics said Friday, versus the 0.4% increase forecast in a Reuters poll of economists. […]
China’s economy grew 5% last year, matching the government’s target, but in a lopsided fashion, with many people complaining of worsening living standards as Beijing struggles to transfer its industrial and export gains to consumers. The imbalance raises concerns that structural problems may deepen in 2025, when China plans a similar growth performance by going […]
A marginal dip in the headline rate of inflation would not normally determine much, if anything. Inflation rising at 2.5% rather than 2.6% does not change much in big economics, nor in the cost of living squeeze felt by households. The fall is entirely accounted for by falls in hotel prices and a smaller-than-usual rise […]
US stocks surged higher Wednesday after an encouraging inflation report and blockbuster profits for some of America’s biggest banks. The Dow surged 703 points, or 1.65%, to close at 43,222. The S&P 500 rose 1.83% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the day higher by 2.45%. The closing bell concluded a rally on Wall Street […]
Justice is slow but it comes. If you have ever been charged more when withdrawing cash from an ATM, you are in luck! The hidden fees that have outraged us so many times now have legal consequences for banks, and you could be one of the beneficiaries of this historic agreement. We are going to […]
MANDATING BUSINESSES to adopt digital payment solutions for transactions could help promote financial inclusion and stoke economic activity as it could stimulate consumer spending, analysts said on Tuesday. “Mandating the adoption of digital payment services in government and merchant transactions has strong potential to promote financial inclusion in Philippines,” John Paolo R. Rivera, a senior […]
The conventional wisdom may be that buy now, pay later (BNPL) options are best suited for lower- to middle-income consumers, for smaller ticket items, and being able to afford necessities. But a spate of recent announcements underscores the widespread appeal of paying over time — where stretching out transactions over weeks or months helps improve […]
China will reduce import tariffs on ethane and certain recycled copper and aluminium raw materials from next year, the government said on Saturday. The Ministry of Finance announced adjustments to various import tariff categories, effective Jan. 1, aimed at increasing imports of high-quality products, expanding domestic demand and promoting high-level opening-up, it said in a […]
