NEW YORK Reuters The U S stock market is reeling from its worst first half of any year since with investors girding for a series of potential flashpoints in July that may set Wall Street s course for the coming months Second quarter corporate earnings hotly anticipated U S inflation

   LOS ANGELES Reuters The union and employers negotiating a new labor contract for more than U S West Coast port workers said high stakes talks that are being closely watched by industry and the White House would continue after the agreement expired late on Friday The agreement covers

   Reuters Susan Collins started her job Friday as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston becoming the first Black woman to lead a regional branch of the U S central bank as it faces year high inflation and mounting fears of recession Collins will have her first chance to weigh in on

   BRASILIA Reuters Brazil s trade surplus reached in June official figures showed on Friday below market expectations Economists polled by Reuters had projected a billion surplus for the month The reading was the second best for the month of June after last year since the

   WARSAW Reuters Polish banks will be taxed more if they don t offer clients higher interest on their deposits the leader of Poland s ruling party said on Saturday intensifying government pressure on the sector to share the benefits of rising rates with savers Poland s main interest rate is at

   PRAGUE Reuters The Czech National Bank s new governor Ales Michl is likely to stabilise interest rates as he and three new board members are not keen on policy tightening President Milos Zeman said on Sunday Michl and the new board members took their seats on July shortly after the previous

   WASHINGTON Reuters U S manufacturing activity slowed more than expected in June with a measure of new orders contracting for the first time in two years signs that the economy was cooling amid aggressive monetary policy tightening by the Federal Reserve The survey from the Institute for

   BENGALURU Reuters Reuters polled more than fixed income strategists covering major sovereign bond markets from around the world during the closing weeks of one of the worst first half of any year for bonds in decades Following are some of the highlights of their predictions for U S

   WASHINGTON Reuters U S construction spending unexpectedly fell in May as single family homebuilding stalled more evidence that the Federal Reserve s aggressive monetary policy tightening was slowing the economy The Commerce Department said on Friday that construction spending slipped in

   LONDON TOKYO WASHINGTON Reuters Global manufacturing struggled in June as higher prices and a darker economic outlook left consumers wary of making purchases while China s strict COVID lockdowns and Russia s invasion of Ukraine added to supply chain disruptions surveys showed From the

   NEW YORK Reuters Wall Street bounced back to a sharply higher close in light trading on Friday as investors embarked on the second half of the year ahead of the long holiday weekend All three major U S stock indexes reversed early losses to end in well into positive territory in the wake of

   NEW YORK Reuters The second half of the year started with gains in global stock indexes on Friday ahead of the long U S holiday weekend while the year Treasury yield fell the most since COVID hit markets in March Copper prices slumped to their weakest in months Stocks were lower

   NEW YORK Reuters Pessimism about the global economic outlook boosted demand for the safe haven U S dollar on Friday while the Australian dollar a proxy for global growth tumbled to a two year low Rampant inflation and a rush by central banks to raise rates and stem the flow of cheap money

   ACCRA Reuters Ghana one of West Africa s largest economies will hold formal talks with the International Monetary Fund IMF on a support package the government said on Friday after hundreds took to the streets to protest against mounting hardship The cabinet gave its support for the

   LONDON Reuters Norway and Sweden have joined the ranks of central banks opting for basis point interest rate rises delivering their biggest policy tightening moves in two decades June saw the U S Federal Reserve upping rates by basis points and the Swiss National Bank surprise with a

   SEC Czech Republic Reuters Czechs have long gathered at village pubs to catch up with friends or celebrate special occasions in a nation famed for its beer culture but soaring costs and belt tightening by patrons have now left many watering holes fighting for survival Like other pubs across

   Reuters European shares closed flat on Friday as gains in defensives countered a sell off in semiconductor and commodity linked stocks while investors prepared for the European Central Bank s ECB first interest rate hike in over a decade this month Data on Friday showed euro zone inflation

   MOSCOW Reuters Dominant lender Sberbank and gas giant Gazprom are among the major Russian companies raising salaries from July faced with double digit inflation and the need to retain top talent as some workers choose to leave the country Triggered by Moscow s sending tens of thousands of

   BEIJING Reuters China s manufacturing activity expanded at its fastest in months in June buoyed by a strong rebound in output as the lifting of COVID lockdowns sent factories racing to meet recovering demand a private sector poll showed on Friday The Caixin Markit manufacturing purchasing

   KARACHI Pakistan Reuters Pakistan s consumer price index CPI rose in June from a year earlier the statistics bureau said on Friday for the South Asian nation s highest inflation in years In May the CPI was up on the year The month on month rise in June was The spike

   Reuters Russia s invasion of Ukraine has significantly disturbed global agricultural markets by sharply driving up prices of key products and inputs such as fertilizer and animal feed the European Union s statistics office said on Friday Eurostat data showed that the average price of goods and

   Reuters Citigroup Inc is in talks with Russian private lender Expobank over a possible sale of some of its operations in the country the latest attempt by a Western bank to quit sanctions hit Russia a source familiar with the matter told Reuters Discussions between Expobank and Citi are at an

   NEW DELHI Reuters India has imposed windfall tax on oil producers and refiners who have boosted product exports to gain from higher overseas margins as the government seeks to increase local supply of fuels to meet rising demand and increase federal revenues New taxes along with export

   MOSCOW Reuters Moscow Exchange Russia s largest bourse on Friday said it planned a legal challenge against European Union sanctions on the National Settlement Depository NSD and would seek to protect the interests of Russian investors The NSD Russia s domestic paying agent equivalent to

   Reuters U S investors turned net sellers of equity funds in the week ended June as they fretted over the impact of hefty rate increases on the U S economy with data showing a contraction in the first quarter According to Refinitiv Lipper data investors jettisoned U S equity funds worth

   TOKYO Reuters Japanese companies expect inflation to stay around the central bank s target for years to come a survey showed on Friday disagreeing with Bank of Japan Governor Haruhiko Kuroda s view that the recent cost driven price rise will prove temporary The BOJ s tankan quarterly

   Reuters U S mortgage lenders refinancing companies and real estate brokers may lay off thousands of employees in the coming months industry sources said as many Americans put off buying a home Low interest rates stimulus payments and working from home during the coronavirus pandemic had

   Reuters After a torrid six months world markets will be hoping for some sign that central banks might dial back their hawkishness U S jobs data if sharply below forecast might prove that catalyst Central banks are front and centre elsewhere too The ECB kicks off its bond reinvestment

   FRANKFURT Reuters Euro zone inflation hit yet another record high in June as price pressures broadened and its peak could still be months away firming the case for rapid European Central Bank rate hikes starting this month Consumer price growth in the countries sharing the euro accelerated

   TAIPEI Reuters Taiwan s economic fundamentals are good and investors should remain calm and rational and not panic Deputy Finance Minister Frank Juan told Reuters on Friday after a large fall in share prices including by top chipmaker TSMC Taiwan s benchmark stock index closed down