El Salvador Dispatch: Searching for Bitcoin City, the Modern El Dorado
President Nayib Bukele vowed to build Bitcoin City on the Conchagua volcano. CoinDesk went looking for signs of construction.
Apple’s Stock-Market Performance Is Increasingly Made in China
(Bloomberg) -- Investors in America’s biggest company are increasingly focused on China, where Apple Inc. is striving to win over a crucial customer base while also facing tariff-related risks.Most Read from BloombergCan Portland Turn a Corner?Why American Mobility Ground to a HaltSaudi Arabia’s Neom Signs $5 Billion Deal for AI Data CenterSpaceX Bid to Turn Texas Starbase Into City Is Set for Vote in MayCutting Arena Subsidies Can Help Cover Tax Cuts, Think Tank SaysThe iPhone maker counts Chin
Russian Oil Tanker Fleet Severely Hobbled by Last Month’s US Sanctions
(Bloomberg) -- The latest US sanctions on Russia’s oil trade have brought a swath of tankers that deliver Moscow’s crude to a halt — reinforcing the significance of the measures in any negotiations over ending the war in Ukraine.Most Read from BloombergCan Portland Turn a Corner?Why American Mobility Ground to a HaltSaudi Arabia’s Neom Signs $5 Billion Deal for AI Data CenterSpaceX Bid to Turn Texas Starbase Into City Is Set for Vote in MayCutting Arena Subsidies Can Help Cover Tax Cuts, Think T
OpenSea Confirms Upcoming Token Airdrop, Expands to Crypto Trading
The new platform OS2 will combine NFT and token trading and support multiple blockchains.
Rate cut hopes are fading fast as inflation data and record egg prices make ‘very uncomfortable’ reading for Jerome Powell
Data isn’t stacking up for a Fed rate cut, multiple regional presidents have hinted, as January’s CPI report makes for “uncomfortable” reading for Powell.
Fed seen on hold until September, with rising bets on earlier rate cut
(Reuters) -The Federal Reserve will likely wait until September before cutting its policy rate, traders bet on Thursday, as data kept alive worries over elevated inflation and a decline in jobless claims suggested the labor market remains healthy. Even so, the specific elements that drove the 0.4% rise last month in the producer price index -- versus economists' expectation for a 0.3% gain -- gave some reason to expect improvement in the measure that the Fed uses to track inflation. Several analysts crunching the data along with Wednesday's report of a surge in consumer prices in January say they now estimate underlying year-over-year personal consumption expenditure price inflation rose 2.6% or 2.7% in January, down from 2.8% in December.
IEA Narrowly Lifts Oil-Demand Growth Outlook
The International Energy Agency on Thursday raised its projection for 2025 oil demand growth slightly, with China continuing to drive the increase—though at a smaller pace than in the past.
US weekly jobless claims fall amid stable labor market
The number of Americans filing new applications for unemployment benefits decreased last week, suggesting the labor market remained stable early in February. Initial claims for state unemployment benefits fell 7,000 to a seasonally adjusted 213,000 for the week ended February 8, the Labor Department said on Thursday.
December wholesale prices up a hot 0.4% as fight against inflation appears to have stalled
U.S. wholesale prices came in hotter than expected last month with progress against inflation appearing to have stalled, further undercutting expectations for lower interest rates this year. Economists and financial markets fear President Donald Trump’s policies will push inflation higher yet. The Labor Department reported Thursday that its producer price index — which tracks inflation before it reaches consumers — rose 0.4% from December and 3.5% from January 2024.
US producer inflation trends higher; labor market remains stable
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. producer prices increased solidly in January, offering more evidence inflation was picking up again and strengthening financial market views that the Federal Reserve would not be cutting interest rates before the second half of the year. Economists warned inflation was set to trend even higher as President Donald Trump presses ahead with broad tariffs on imports as well as mass deportations that could cause labor shortages and raise wages and prices of goods. "The report does give pause to rate cut expectations, however, as higher business costs are likely to translate into upward pressure on consumer prices in the months to come," said Kurt Rankin, a senior economist at PNC Financial.