Financial related news.
WASHINGTON — A measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained uncomfortably high in March, likely reinforcing the Fed's reluctance to cut interest rates anytime soon and underscoring a burden for President Joe Biden's re-election bid. The report from the government showed that prices rose 0.3 percent from February to March, the same [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation's economy slowed last quarter to a 1.6 percent annual pace in the face of high interest rates, according to a new government report. Last week’s report from the Commerce Department said the gross domestic product — the economy's total output of goods and services — decelerated in the January-March quarter [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — Several factors, including the increased use of technology in vehicles, are being blamed for the increase in automobile insurance rates. Auto insurance rates rose 2.6 percent in March and are up 22 percent from a year ago. Premium costs have been marching steadily higher since 2022, even as inflation at the [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — The “miners” who chisel bitcoins out of complex mathematics are taking a 50 percent pay cut — effectively reducing new production of the world’s largest cryptocurrency, again. Bitcoin’s latest “halving” occurred Friday night. Soon after the event, the price of bitcoin held steady at about $63,907. Now, all eyes are on [...]
NEW YORK — As the heart of earnings reporting season arrives on Wall Street, investors hope that many more voices will be joining the chorus of companies reporting stronger profits. Last year, Big Tech stocks were behind much of corporate America’s profit growth and thus behind the majority of the gain for the S&P 500. [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — The International Monetary Fund has upgraded its outlook for the global economy this year, saying the world appears headed for a “soft landing” — reining in inflation without much economic pain and producing steady if modest growth. The IMF now envisions 3.2 percent worldwide expansion this year, up a tick from the [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — American markets are far outpacing their global counterparts in 2024, continuing a decade-long trend of strong growth compared with the rest of the world. The S&P 500 is up 10 percent for the year, compared to 4 percent for developed markets outside the United States. Since 2019, the S&P has gained [...]
NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase continued to warn investors last week that it expects an "uncertain" year for markets and the global economy, citing stubbornly high inflation and ongoing geopolitical tensions. The remarks came as JPMorgan — as well as its major competitors Citigroup and Wells Fargo — reported their first quarter results. JPMorgan had [...]
WASHINGTON (AP) — Consumer inflation remained historically high last month, boosted by gas, rents, auto insurance and other items, the government said earlier this week in a report that could give pause to the Federal Reserve as it considers how many — or even whether — to cut interest rates this year. Prices outside the [...]
NEW YORK (AP) — JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon earlier this week told investors that he continues to expect the nation’s economy to be resilient and grow this year. He said he’s concerned, however, that geopolitical events including the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas war, as well as American political polarization, might be creating [...]