ECONOMY & MARKETS

The European Central Bank is keeping options "wide open" for September, president Christine Lagarde said, after holding interest rates steady Thursday in the wait for more evidence that inflation was on the right track.

The European Central Bank held borrowing costs steady Thursday, giving policymakers more time to assess progress on inflation after last month's first interest rate cut in five years.

China posted lower than expected growth in the second quarter on Monday, with all eyes on how top officials gathering for a key meeting in Beijing might seek to tackle the country's deepening economic malaise.

The increase in PPI in June was attributed to a sudden rise in final demand services, particularly in trade service margins, which soared 1.9% from May.

The latest economic data could result in long-awaited interest rate cuts after the Consumer Price Index (CPI) -- a key factor in the Federal Reserve's bid to lower inflation -- came in below projections on Thursday.

The Paris-based body that advises industrial nations on energy policy said oil demand increased by just 710,000 barrels per day in the second quarter, the slowest rate in over a year.

The US Federal Reserve is making "modest" progress in its inflation fight, the head of the US central bank told lawmakers Tuesday, on the first of two days of testimony in Congress.

The eurozone's annual rate of inflation cooled in June in line with analysts' expectations thanks to a slowdown in food and energy price rises, official data showed on Tuesday.

The U.S. economy got some good news on the inflation front Friday as fresh data saw the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index hit its lowest annual rate in May in over three years.

Gross domestic product expanded by 0.7 percent in the first three months of this year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement, upgrading the prior estimate of 0.6-percent expansion and beating market expectations for no change.

Freddie Mac's chief economist, Sam Khater, highlighted that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit its lowest level in nearly three months and expects rates to continue to fall over the summer, potentially bringing more buyers back into the market.

The upward revision is attributed to a decrease in imports and increased nonresidential fixed investment and government spending.

Experts from Wall Street and economic analysts predict Trump's measures could lead to a resurgence of inflation, which has only recently shown signs of cooling.

This marks the third consecutive week of declining mortgage rates, which have largely remained around 7% since April.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), the Greens and the liberal FDP, who came to power in 2021, have until July 3, the end of the current parliamentary term, to reach a compromise.

This adjustment represents a 27% rise in the deficit forecast, attributed to factors such as increased Medicaid spending, the fallout from the 2023 banking crises, and the passage of a $95 billion aid package for Ukraine, Israel, and the Indo-Pacific region in April.

British inflation slowed in May to the central bank's two-percent target, official data showed Wednesday, boosting Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's struggling election campaign.

Both the tech-rich Nasdaq and the broad-based S&P 500 pushed to all-time closing highs.

The IMF executive board voted Thursday to approve a payout of almost $800 million for Argentina as it continues a program of drastic economic reforms under its libertarian president, Javier Milei.

For the second consecutive days the U.S. economy received good news on the inflation front in the form of government data, with Thursday's drop indicating an unexpected decline in wholesale prices in May.

The May headline consumer inflation rate is expected to be little changed from a month earlier, according to the median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

Britain's economy stagnated in April after emerging from recession in the first quarter of the year, official data showed Wednesday ahead of the country's general election next month.

The stock jumped 7% to close at a record high, marking its best single-day performance since November 2022.

European markets sank with the euro on Monday after a win for far-right parties in EU elections and French President Emmanuel Macron's decision to call a snap parliamentary poll fuelled uncertainty in the bloc.

GameStop shares fell after a decline of 29% in sales was reported amid anticipation for "Roaring Kitty's" YouTube livestream.

The U.S. economy added more jobs than projected in May, but the unemployment rate topped 4% for the first time in nearly 18 months.

Japan's household spending rose in April for the first time in 14 months, official data showed Friday, as wages grow at the fastest pace in three decades.

Turkey has been battling soaring consumer prices that prompted Erdogan to drop his opposition to interest-rate hikes to combat inflation.

Trump Media & Technology Group's stock, which trades under the ticker symbol "DJT," dropped about 9% in after-hours trading.