Author: Steven Sahiounie

Stocks are rising Monday, clawing back some of their losses from Wall Street’s worst week since early December. The S&P 500 was 0.6% higher in afternoon trading and on pace for just its second gain in the last seven days. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 146 points, or 0.5%, at 32,963, as of 1:40 p.m. Eastern time, while the Nasdaq composite was 0.9% higher. Stocks have struggled in February after a strong start to the year as reports have shown inflation and much of the overall economy are staying more resilient than expected. While the strong economic data…

The crypto market saw another day of sideways trading on Monday as the weakness present at the end of last week carried through the weekend while traders continued to weigh the prospect of higher interest rates for longer and what that means for risk assets. Stocks rallied in the early morning session as Wall Street looked to bounce back from its worst week of the year, but the early gains moderated as the day progressed and economic data showed that new orders for manufactured durable goods plunged 4.5% in January, the biggest drop since April 2020. At the close of…

The South African rand was pressured by a stronger U.S. dollar in early trade on Tuesday ahead of the release of domestic money supply, budget, trade and unemployment data later in the day. At 0550 GMT, the rand traded at 18.4600 against the U.S. dollar, about 0.2% weaker than its closing level on Monday. The dollar was up around 0.2% against a basket of global currencies . South Africa’s January money supply figures (ZAM3=ECI) are due at 0600 GMT, followed by fourth-quarter unemployment numbers (ZAUNR=ECI) at 0930 GMT. January trade (ZATBAL=ECI) and budget (ZABUDM=ECI) data will be released at 1200 GMT. South Africa’s economy is expected to register…

New YorkCNN — Analysts have long expected a slowdown in the US labor market, but for the past 10 months, the data has come in better than expected. That may sound like a good thing for the economy, but as the Federal Reserve attempts to fight inflation, the still-hot jobs market is signaling that more painful interest rate hikes could be ahead. But lately, some economists have begun to worry that the data on which Fed officials rely is becoming increasingly inaccurate. The number of people responding to labor market and inflation surveys has been declining for years, and the pandemic accelerated that…

Interest owed on Germany’s public debt has soared from €4 billion ($4.2 billion) in 2021 to €40 billion (over $42 billion) currently, German Finance Minister Christian Lindner revealed on Monday. “This is the money that we will not have enough of for other purposes in the future: education, digitalization and investment in climate protection. Thus, it makes economic sense to contain the growth of debt,” he wrote on Twitter. At the same time, the minister noted that Germany would continue to strengthen its energy security, increase assistance to Ukraine and strengthen the national armed forces. Germany’s public debt exceeds €2.3 trillion…

Russian coal exports to China via the Zabaikalsk-Manzhouli railway crossing have surged by 214% compared to last year, the Russian Consulate General in the northeast province of Harbin announced on Monday. In the first 40 days of 2023 supplies exceeded 438,000 tons, with more than 6,200 freight cars of coal exported to China, the consulate said. The Asian country is using Russian coal to generate electricity and heat in the provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning, as well as in the east of the Inner Mongolia autonomous region. Earlier this month, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak said that Moscow…

After months of talks, the two sides are expected to reach an agreement on Northern Ireland’s trading arrangements British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will meet in the UK on Monday for final talks on a deal to resolve the Northern Ireland Protocol, which is part of the Brexit deal on trade rules for the region. In a joint statement on Sunday, Sunak and von der Leyen said they had “agreed to continue their work in person towards shared, practical solutions for the range of complex challenges around the protocol on Ireland and Northern…

The Russian economy has managed to hold up against the massive sanctions imposed by Western countries and their allies over Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby admitted on Friday. As the conflict enters its second year, Washington revealed more anti-Russia penalties, targeting dozens of companies and individuals linked to the country, and raising tariffs on Russian goods whose imports were still allowed. Meanwhile, the EU approved its tenth package of sanctions against Russia, which includes export limitations on dual-use items and technology, measures against so-called Russian disinformation, and new restrictions against individuals and…

The layoffs have reportedly impacted 10% of the company’s remaining workforce of 2,000 people Twitter has laid off another 200 employees, including some top executives, in the latest round of massive job cuts since Elon Musk took over last October. According to media reports, the layoffs started on Saturday night and many employees learned their fate on Sunday when they couldn’t access their company email accounts and laptops. The job cuts targeted product managers, data scientists and engineers. They include the head of the paid subscription service Twitter Blue, Esther Crawford. The founder of the screen-sharing app Squad, Crawford joined…

Russian oil flows to Poland have been halted due to the stoppage of payment for deliveries, Russia’s state-owned pipeline transport company Transneft announced on Monday. Transneft, which operates Russia’s section of the Druzhba pipeline, explained that it transfers oil to other countries in line with the export schedule approved by the Russian Ministry of Energy, as well as routing orders processed by freight forwarders. “Transneft is not currently transporting oil to Poland,” the company’s spokesman Igor Demin said. He noted that pumping to Polish refineries was scheduled for “the third ten-day interval” of February. However, “routing orders with confirmed resource and transit payments were…