Economy in Northern America

  • Anxiety Ahead of Fed Meeting May Stifle Risk Appetite

    UNITED STATES, 2016/03/16 The major U.S. index futures are pointing to a lower opening on Tuesday, with the mixed data points released ahead of the market open doing little to quell the anxiety of traders.  A Commerce Department report highlighted slackening in retail spending, while the manufacturing sector is slowly finding its footing after months of underperformance, if the results of the New York Federal's survey is something to go by. Meanwhile, wholesale price inflation data panned in line with expectations. Commodities are being pounded but the dollar is trading on a mixed note as a 2-day FOMC meeting gets underway. Earlier in the global trading day, the Bank of Japan disappointed expectations from some quarters of additional easing, sending Asian stocks into a tailspin. That said, its Australian counterpart relayed through the minutes of the March rate-setting meeting that it is ready to offer more.   U.S. stocks clawed back most of their early losses on Monday and ended on a narrowly mixed note, as the markets awaited three key central bank decisions on a cautiously optimistic note and commodity prices retreated. The major averages opened steeply lower but recouped their losses over the course of the morning. 

  • U.S. Leading Economic Index Dips In Line With Estimates In January

    UNITED STATES, 2016/02/19 Driven primarily by steep drops in stock prices and weakness in initial jobless claims, the Conference Board released a statement on Thursday showing a modest decrease by its index of leading U.S. economic indicators in the month of January. The Conference Board said its leading economic index edged down by 0.2 % in January following a revised 0.3 % decrease in December. The modest drop by the index matched economist estimates.

  • Iran speaker says US counterparts attempt to kill nuclear deal

    IRAN, 2016/01/11 The US lawmakers have recently introduced several bills inclunding the HR158 which are all aimed at killing a nuclear transaction reached between Iran and the world major powers in July 2015, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said, IRNA news agency reported Jan. 10. Larijani has said that amendments to the US Visa Waiver Program (VWP) violate the nuclear transaction (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action/JCPOA) reached between Tehran and the world powers in July 2015 to settle out Tehran’s nuclear issue.

  • Global growth will be disappointing in 2016: IMF's Lagarde

    AFGHANISTAN, 2016/01/02 World economic increase will be disappointing next year and the outlook for the medium-term has as well deteriorated, the chief of the International Monetary Fund said in a guest article for German newspaper Handelsblatt published on Wednesday. IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said the prospect of rising interest rates in the United States and an economic slowdown in China were contributing to uncertainty and a higher risk of economic vulnerability worldwide. Added to that, increase in world trade has slowed considerably and a decline in raw material prices is posing problems for economies based on these, while the financial sector in a lot of nations still has weaknesses and financial risks are rising in emerging markets, she said.

  • U.S. Durable Goods Orders Virtually Unchanged In November

    UNITED STATES, 2015/12/26 Next reporting a sharp increase in new orders for U.S. manufactured durable goods in the previous month, the Commerce Department released a statement on Wednesday showing that durable goods orders came in roughly flat in November. The statement said durable goods orders were virtually unchanged in November next surging up by 2.9 % in October. Orders had been expected to pull back by about 0.5 %. The unchanged reading came as a 0.4 % increase in orders for transportation equipment was offset by notable decreases in orders for primary metals and machinery.

  • China Will Be Key to Future of G-20, Ex-Canadian PM Paul Martin Says

    CHINA, 2015/11/30 In the late 1990s, the world seemed to be lurching from one economic crisis to an extra. But only a handful of developed nations, known as the Group of Seven, seemed to have the last word on what everyone else should do about it. One man thought there was something wrong with that: Paul Martin, the former prime minister of Canada, who is widely credited as the architect of the Group of 20. Established in 1999, the grouping serves as a forum for world economic leaders, such as finance ministers and central bank governors, from both developed and developing nations to discuss pressing issues. This year's G-20 summit will be held in Antalya, Turkey, from November 15 to 16. China will take over the G-20 presidency on December 1 and host the summit for the initial time, in the major eastern city of Hangzhou, in November next year.

  • Yellen sees December rate hike possible as U.S. economy performs well

    UNITED STATES, 2015/11/24 U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said Wednesday that the central bank may start raising short-term interest rates at its December policy conference as the U.S. economy is "performing well." The Fed expects "the economy will continue to grow at a pace that's sufficient to generate further improvements in the labor market and to return inflation to our 2 % target over the medium term," Yellen tesitified before the Home Financial Services Committee on financial regulation. "If the incoming data supports that expectation, again our statement indicates that December would be a live possibility," Yellen said, referring to its next policy conference scheduled for Dec. 15-16. "But importantly, we have made no decision about it." Yellen said the decision on hiking interest rates in December will depend on the Fed's policy arm the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s assessment of the economic outlook at that time and "that assessment will be informed by all of the data that we received between presently and again."

  • APEC economies growth slows to 3.1 pct in Q2

    BRUNEI , 2015/11/18 Increase among the 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) economies softened to 3.1 % in the second quarter of 2015, down from 3.2 % in the initial quarter and 3.4 % a year ago, according to an APEC economic analysis released on Tuesday. The statement said the increase slowdown reflected the prolonged weakness in world economic activity as the modest recovery in advanced economies was matched by a general slowdown in emerging market economies. The moderation in GDP levels could be attributed to declining investments and lacklustre exports, according to the statement. "Economies across the Asia-Pacific continue to grow but find themselves in a holding pattern of lower increase in the absence of high trade volumes," said Alan Bollard, Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat.

  • Sri Lanka: A Lesson for U.S. Strategy

    SRI LANKA, 2015/08/30 For much of the period since its independence, Sri Lanka attracted scant regard throughout the West. At the culmination of its civil war, some attention did begin to be paid to human rights issues. In the last few years, however, Sri Lanka has begun to feature as a country of strategic relevance to the great powers. For one, it sits at the center of the Indian Ocean, likely to be one of the world’s most strategically contested regions in the coming century. Sri Lanka is as well halfway between China and its energy sources in the Middle East, something Beijing had responded to largely successfully until January this year at the same time as Mahinda Rajapaksa lost the presidency. Last week’s parliamentary elections were a further blow to Beijing, at the same time as Rajapaksa’s party lost to the center-right United National Party led by pro-Western Ranil Wickramasinghe

  • American economic growth rose at a 2.3% annual rate in the second quarter of 2015, far below expectations.

    UNITED STATES, 2015/08/02
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