Economic News

(Repeating for technical reasons) WASHINGTON (AFX) - US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson has urged the Chinese authorities to make rapid progress towards making its currency flexible. In testimony to the Senate Committee on banking, housing and urban affairs following the Treasury's publication of its report on international economic and exchange rate policies, Paulson said China is "not mo ...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Stocks were narrowly mixed in early trading Wednesday as the economy gave off fresh signs it could sidestep a sharp slowdown and quarterly results from Boeing Co. blew past projections. The robust data offset skittishness about the Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates due later in the day. While Wall Street expects the Fed will leave short-term interest rates unchanged fo ...

LONDON (AFX) - Stronger than anticipated fourth-quarter US growth helped the dollar retain a firm tone ahead of this evening's latest interest-rate decision from the US Federal Reserve, and its accompanying statement in particular. The Commerce Department reported that the US economy grew at an annualised 3.5 pct pace in the final quarter of last year, up on the 2.0 pct recorded in the third quar ...

(Updating with recasts and additional details on housing market) WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US economy grew at a faster than expected pace at the end of the year, posting ist biggest annual gain in two years even as a measure of inflation fell for the first time in 45 years, the Commerce Department said today. The department estimated the economy grew at a 3.5 pct annualised rate between October and ...

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Since Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and his colleagues last met, an economic sea change has occurred that has left financial markets glumly contemplating the central bank's next moves on interest rates. Analysts don't expect the Fed will change rates when policymakers wrap up their two-day meeting on Wednesday. But they are braced for the possibility of rate ...

WASHINGTON (AFX) - The US economy grew at its fastest pace in two years in the last quarter of 2006, while a key measure of inflation fell for the first time in 45 years, the Commerce Department said today. The department estimated the economy grew at a 3.5 pct annualised rate between October and December, faster than the 3.0 pct economists had expected and faster than the 2.0 pct growth in the t ...

India has raised its short-term interest rate to its highest level since March 2003. The central bank raised the cost of borrowing by a quarter of a point to 7.5%, but left other rates unchanged. Policymakers said they had raised rates in a bid to curb inflation, which is significantly above targets at 6.1%. The bank added it hoped the move would not hit growth, as it raised forecasts for economic expansion in the current financial year for a second time. The central bank now expects growth  ...

(Updating to add further details, analysts' comments) LONDON (AFX) - Consumer confidence bounced back slightly in January despite the Bank of England's surprise interest rate hike early in the month but remained relatively weak, a leading pollster found today. In its monthly survey, GfK/NOP said its main headline consumer confidence index rose one point to -7 from -8. Analysts polled by AFX News ...

(Adds reaction and comment from analysts) LONDON (AFX) - Higher borrowing costs are slowly beginning to take their toll on UK homebuyers, the Council of Mortgage Lenders said. It said that the number of mortgage repossessions increased to 8,860 in the second half of 2006 from 8,140 in the first six months. This took the total for the year to 17,000, which is 65 pct higher than in 2005, and broa ...

LONDON (AFX) - Consumer confidence bounced back slightly in January despite the Bank of England's surprise interest rate hike early in the month, a leading pollster found today. In its monthly survey, GfK/NOP said its main headline consumer confidence index rose one point to -7 from -8. Analysts polled by AFX News did not expect any change in the index. Despite the improvement, the trend remains ...