Market Wire, North America

Financial markets are staging an across-the-board relief rally after the Wall Street Journal said president-elect Donald Trump intends to stop short of hitting major trading partners with tariffs on his first day in office. Instead, he plans to issue a directive that asks federal agencies to “investigate and remedy persistent trade deficits and address unfair trade and currency policies by other nations”. Most major currencies are up roughly 1 percent against the dollar—corresponding to our estimates of the tariff impact that had been priced in ahead of the article’s release—with the safe-haven Swiss franc the only exception among developed-market units....

As had been widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point this afternoon, while also telegraphing a dramatically slower pace of easing in 2025. The Federal Open Market Committee voted by an 11-to-1 margin to lower the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.25 to 4.50 percent, with the Cleveland Fed’s Beth Hammack dissenting in favour of a hold. In the statement setting out the decision, officials made only one major change that we can see: in place of a sentence that previously said “In considering additional adjustments to the target...

Consumer price growth held steady in the United States last month, avoiding a widely-feared surge, and giving the Federal Reserve room to ease policy settings in December. According to data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, the core consumer price index – with highly-volatile food and energy prices excluded – rose 3.3 percent in October from the same period last year, up 0.3 percent on a month-over-month basis, while matching September’s pace. This was in line with consensus estimates among economists polled by the major data providers ahead of the release, suggesting that hurricanes Helene and Milton...

As had been widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark borrowing rate by a quarter percentage point this afternoon, and cautious language in the statement points to a more gradual pace of easing ahead. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to lower the target range for the federal funds rate to 4.5 to 4.75 percent, with Governor Bowman moving back into line with the consensus after dissenting in favour of a similar-sized move in September. In the statement setting out the decision, officials noted “economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace,” before saying “Since earlier...