Rate Cuts

Overnight, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) kept rates on hold for the second consecutive month after cutting its benchmark interest rate in May. The Bank has been easing policy in the face of slowing exports to China, which have weighed on growth and seen inflation slow. Rate Decision The RBA...

Futures Lower Ahead of Non-Farm Payrolls, Lower EU Outlook U.S. equity futures traded lower in early pre-market trade ahead of the Non-Farm Payrolls report for April and following the EU Commission cutting its growth forecasts. Looking at Non-Farm Payrolls, economists surveyed by Bloomberg are...

Futures Higher On Central Banks U.S. equity futures rose slightly in early pre-market trade following the FOMC saying that it is prepared to increase or decrease asset purchases depending on the state of the economy. Today, the European Central Bank is set to release its interest rate decision and...

In the upcoming week, the focus of markets will gradually shift from earnings to the economy, especially later in the week, as key reports including the ECB rate decision and the U.S. Non-Farm Payrolls report are expected to be released. Key Earnings In the coming week, key earnings from Facebook...

Just as markets were gripping with , Spain has slashed its growth forecasts for 2013 and now expects a wider contraction in 2013. Also, Spain does not expect to meet the EU deficit targets for an additional two years under the current assumptions. For 2013, Spain revised down its growth forecast...

Futures Lower on Weak Chinese, German Data U.S. equity futures traded lower in pre-market trade following weak data out of China and Germany. However, European shares traded higher on hopes of an ECB rate cut. Top News In other news around the markets: The Flash Chinese HSBC Manufacturing PMI...

The Royal Bank of Australia (RBA) overnight released its November interest rate decision and unexpectedly kept rates on hold. The RBA kept the benchmark cash lending rate at 3.25 percent in November, defying economist expectations of a 0.25 percent cut to 3.00 percent. The holding of rates follows...

Chinese trade collapsed in July as export and import growth slowed from June showing that the global economy continued to slow. Chinese growth, especially its large export sector, has slowed as Europe dips further into recession as the debt crisis chokes growth on the continent. Chinese export...

New data released late Wednesday and early Thursday from China pointed to a continued slowdown in the Chinese economy. Inflation slowed, industrial production fell and retail sales missed estimates pointing to a protracted slowdown in what is supposed to be the growth hub of the world. Industrial...

U.S. equity futures rose ahead of the interest rate decisions from both the Bank of England and the European Central Bank. Also, the People's Bank of China reported that it has not cut rates this month as some had expected. Recall that before the previous two Bank of England decisions, China had...

The European Central Bank (ECB) is different from the Federal Reserve in a few different ways. The ECB's mandate is different in that it only is meant to keep price stability whereas the Fed is meant to protect a dual mandate of "full" employment and price stability. This divergence has huge...