Reuters US Economy

By Jamie McGeever ORLANDO, Fla. (Reuters) – The parallels between the Federal Reserve’s interest rate hikes of 1994-95 and the cycle now underway are becoming clearer, and policymakers are hoping for a similar outcome: no recession. Fed Chair Jerome Powell signaled on Wednesday that he and his colleagues want to get as much tightening done …

Column-Fed fingers crossed for 1994 re-run as hiking path shortens: McGeever Read More »

By Alasdair Pal and Uditha Jayasinghe BOGAWANTALAWA, Sri Lanka (Reuters) – On a lush plantation in Sri Lanka, Arulappan Ideijody deftly plucks the tips of each tea bush, throwing them over her shoulder into an open basket on her back. After a month of picking more than 18 kg (40 lb) of such tea leaves …

Sri Lankan tea pickers’ dreams shattered by economic crisis Read More »

(Reuters) – The Russian rouble briefly reached its highest level against the U.S. dollar since March 2020 on Thursday, supported by capital controls, while stock indexes also climbed as the market watched developments around possible new sanctions against Moscow. The volatile currency hit a high of 65.31 per dollar in early trading on the Moscow …

Russian rouble hits highest level since March 2020; sanctions talk in focus Read More »

By Nick Carey LONDON (Reuters) – Luxury British carmaker Bentley on Thursday said its first-quarter operating profit jumped 162% versus the same period last year, as soaring vehicle prices offset the loss of some cars at sea and pandemic-related delivery problems in China. The Volkswagen unit said high customer interest in new models resulted in …

Bentley Q1 profit soars despite cars lost at sea and stuck in China Read More »

MILAN (Reuters) – The European Central Bank should not raise interest rates in July, even though the inflation outlook suggests it can gradually reduce support for the economy, ECB board member Fabio Panetta told Italian newspaper La Stampa. While an increasing number of ECB policymakers are making the case for a rate hike at the …

ECB should not raise rates in July before Q2 GDP data: Panetta Read More »

By Echo Wang and Devik Jain (Reuters) – U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve delivered a widely expected interest-rate hike, and the S&P 500 recorded its biggest one-day percentage gain in nearly a year. Stocks initially see-sawed after the announcement, then the indexes strengthened. The S&P 500’s advance of almost …

Wall Street closes with sharp gains after Fed’s interest rate hike Read More »

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised its benchmark overnight interest rate by half a percentage point, the biggest jump in 22 years, and said it would begin trimming its bond holdings next month as a further step in the battle to lower inflation. The U.S. central bank set its target federal …

Instant View: Fed hikes 50 bp, Powell tamps down speculation of 75 bp hike Read More »

(Reuters) – Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Wednesday said central bank officials are not “actively” considering a rate hike of three-quarters of a percentage point at coming monetary policy meetings. “A 75 basis point increase is not something that the committee is actively considering,” Powell said in response to a question at a press …

Fed’s Powell: 75 basis point rate hike not being ‘actively considered’ Read More »

By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. private employers hired the fewest workers in two years in April amid chronic labor shortages and rising costs, which are hitting small businesses the hardest, raising the possibility that overall job growth slowed considerably last month. That was reinforced by a separate survey from the Institute for Supply …

Worker shortages hamper U.S. private payrolls, services sector in April Read More »