Author: Steven Sahiounie

NEW YORK/LONDON – Global shares and bond yields meandered on Wednesday after data showed U.S. services industry growth eased further in March, suggesting inflation is slowing, but not enough for the Federal Reserve to say when interest rate cuts can begin.

Russia has been put in a position when it is forced to protect its people, its future and its sovereignty in a weaponized way, President Vladimir Putin said at the 12th congress of the Russian Federation of Independent Trade Unions. “Everyone understands in what conditions we live. We have been put in a position when the country is forced to protect its interests in a weaponized way, its people, its future, its sovereignty,” he said. Masterminds behind the terrorist attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue near Moscow above all wanted to damage Russia’s unity, Putin added. “We have…

SINGAPORE – The dollar was pinned beneath recent peaks on Thursday with traders taking remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell as reassuring on the likelihood of interest rate cuts this year while waiting for the latest U.S. labour market readout.

Venezuela has said the United States is setting up “secret” bases in the disputed Essequibo region. “We have information proving that in the territory of Guyana Essequibo, temporarily administered by Guyana, secret military bases of the (US) Southern Command… a body of the CIA, have been installed,” Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro said. Essequibo is an oil-rich region located between Guyana and Venezuela, disputed between the two countries. Maduro said the US bases were being set up to prepare for an escalation against Venezuela, describing the move as a direct aggression against the people of the southern and eastern part of the…

Issues were also reported on Apple’s fitness service Apple Fitness+, as well as Arcade, Audiobooks, Books and Podcasts, according to Apple’s system status pages for several countries reviewed by Reuters

Gold prices posted their fifth straight record peak on Thursday as Federal Reserve officials reiterated expectations of interest rate cuts in 2024, even if their timing was unclear, while traders await key U.S. jobs data.

The ECB kept borrowing costs at record highs at the meeting but started to cautiously lay the groundwork to lower them in June

Egypt’s trade balance deficit dropped by 37.2% year on year (YoY) to $2.08 billion in January, Asharq Business reported, citing the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS).

Recent retail results show that consumers are under financial pressure as high interest rates increase the cost of debt

Oman’s debt capital market (DCM) shrank by 7% year-on-year (YoY) to $44 billion in 2023 as the government pre-paid more of its debt using the budget surplus from high oil prices, Fitch Ratings said in a new report.