Financial News & Insights

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Another eventful week for financial markets as they digested the news that Congress had agreed to a giant $2 trillion relief bill. Stimulus is sorely needed, with more than three million Americans filing for unemployment insurance benefits last week. The unemplo

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Markets continued to see losses this week as the COVID-19 outbreak intensified. Investors made a dash for cash, resulting in tightening financial conditions. The Fed reacted quickly, cutting the target range of the federal funds rate by a full percentage point t

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Wild gyrations in financial markets continued this week, with equity indexes seeing their biggest one-day drops in several decades. Policy announcements were the other theme of the week. In Europe, the Bank of England and European Central Bank announced new meas

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK The Fed viewed the spread of COVID-19 as having a ‘material’ impact on the economic outlook and made an emergency intermeeting rate cut of 50 basis points to proactively support the economy. A few other central banks also cut rates. Economic data confirmed that

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Fears about the widening spread of Covid-19 led to the worst weak for equity markets since 2008. The 10-Year Treasury yield continued to find new all-time lows on Friday, and the Brent price of oil was down 15% on the week midday Friday. News on outbreaks in Ita

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK COVID-19 continues to pose challenges for China’s economy as well as global manufacturing supply chains. Factories have been slow to open as quarantines keep workers at home. While the situation on the ground appears to be improving, global supply chains are sta

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Risk sentiment turned positive this week, as investors took developments related to the Covid-19 virus and a mixed bag of U.S. data in stride. Among the data reports, the NFIB survey indicated that American small businesses entered 2020 on solid footing, with th

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK U.S. manufacturing activity expanded in January for the first time since July and the services sector was the strongest since August. The coronavirus outbreak continued to disrupt trade and supply chains, impact financial markets, and force multinational compani

FINANCIAL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK The American economy grew by 2.1% in Q4 according to the advance estimate. While growth has been steady around 2% for the past three quarters, the headline masks a softening consumer spending trend, alongside declining investment. The recent U.S.-

FINANCIAL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK Markets were focused on the progress of the new coronavirus in China, with few economic headlines in the U.S.. It is still early days, but it is likely the important efforts to contain the disease will crimp economic growth in China. Existing home