Kristalina Georgieva, the Director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), expressed concerns about the Middle East's complex economic landscape at the Future Investment Initiative today. She highlighted the negative impact of the Israel-Gaza conflict on regional economies like Egypt, Lebanon, and Jordan. The war is aggravating an already uncertain global economic situation marked by stubborn inflation and high borrowing costs.
Oil prices were little changed on Thursday as the market weighed mixed drivers, eyeing tensions in the Middle East while digesting a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The dollar was firm on Thursday, hovering near a one-week high as Treasury yields rose and investor appetite for riskier currencies dimmed, while the yen breached 150 per dollar to keep traders jittery about the prospect of intervention.
China led Asia's stock markets higher on Wednesday as investors cheered the approval of a trillion-yuan sovereign bond issue as a harbinger of stimulus, while the Aussie dollar hit a two-week high as hotter-than-expected inflation lifted rate forecasts.
Britain's labour market lost a bit more of its inflationary heat in the three months to August, data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday, potentially helping the Bank of England to keep interest rates on hold next week.
Britain's businesses reported another decline in activity this month and cost pressures cooled further, surveys showed on Tuesday, underlining the risk of recession as the Bank of England prepares for its interest rate decision next week.