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(Reuters) – French consumer price inflation eased in August compared to a year ago, mainly due to lower petroleum product prices and electricity costs, preliminary data from statistics agency INSEE showed on Friday. France’s EU-harmonized inflation, which enables comparisons with other eurozone countries, rose 2.2% year-on-year in August compared to 2.7% a year earlier, while …

French preliminary inflation at 2.2% in August, slightly above forecasts Read More »

(Reuters) -Ratings agency Fitch said on Thursday the U.S. fiscal profile is likely to remain largely unchanged regardless of who wins the upcoming presidential election, as it affirmed the United States of America’s credit rating at “AA+”, citing structural strengths including high per capita income and financial flexibility. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris’ late entry …

US fiscal profile unlikely to change much after elections, says Fitch Read More »

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of Americans filing new applications for jobless benefits slipped last week, but re-employment opportunities for laid-off workers are becoming more scarce, a sign that the unemployment rate probably remained elevated in August. Though the labor market is slowing, it is doing so in an orderly fashion that …

US economy displays resilience with low layoffs, solid second-quarter growth Read More »

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkey’s economic growth is expected to have fallen to 3.2% in the second quarter of this year as tighter economic policies weighed, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday, with the rate seen cooling to 3.35% for the year as a whole. The economy grew 5.7% in the first quarter of this year …

Turkey economy grew 3.2% in Q2; seen cooling to 3.35% in 2024: Reuters poll Read More »

SEOUL (Reuters) -South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Thursday there was a need to “manage” policy loan rates should expectations about lower borrowing costs lead to further price increases in the already hot housing market. “It won’t matter if it (home buying) is real demand, but if speculative demand stemming from asset management …

South Korea’s Yoon says to ‘manage’ policy loan rates if housing market heats up Read More »

(Reuters) -Spain’s EU-harmonised annual inflation fell to 2.4%, its slowest pace in a year, thanks to lower fuel and food prices, preliminary data released by the National Statistics Institute (INE) showed on Thursday. The rate was lower than the 2.9% registered in the period through July and lower than the 2.5% expected by analysts polled …

Spain’s inflation falls in August to slowest pace in a year Read More »

By Ellen Zhang and Marius Zaharia BEIJING/HONG KONG (Reuters) – China’s local governments have fallen behind on their debt issuance plans as scrutiny mounts over potentially wasteful infrastructure investment, fuelling talk that such funds could be used in other areas to stimulate growth back towards target. Investment at a municipal level has for years been …

Analysis-As it reins in wasteful investment, China frets over growth Read More »

By Yoruk Bahceli (Reuters) – Government bond markets, which have enjoyed a summer of solid price gains, now face a reckoning with their bets for speedy central bank rate cuts and slowing inflation, not to mention a tight U.S. presidential election. Benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury yields are set to end August down nearly 30 bps, …

Analysis-Bond markets face a reckoning after stellar summer run Read More »

KUALA LUMPUR (Reuters) – The Malaysian government has no plans to reintroduce a goods and services tax (GST) as an alternative to removing subsidies for RON95 petrol, state news agency Bernama reported on Thursday, citing the government spokesperson. “No, there were never discussions,” Fahmi Fadzil was quoted as saying. Bloomberg reported on Wednesday that Malaysia …

Malaysia government not planning to reintroduce GST, report says Read More »

SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Several Chinese regional banks have reported a jump in their investment income in the first half of the year, even as their primary lending businesses faltered, as the flailing economy and slow monetary transmission forces banks into bond trading. WHY IT’S IMPORTANT Chinese lenders are still facing challenges such as narrow margins …

Chinese regional banks investment revenues surge even as lending falters Read More »