The World Gold Council's (WGC) preliminary estimates show that the world's central banks added 15.7 tons of gold to their holdings in March, with purchases of 40.4 tons offsetting sales of 24.7 tons. Uzbekistan sold the most, with 10.9 tons. Thailand's reserves were drastically cut by 9.6 tons, however this was brought on by the change in the reporting format for gold. Jordan, at 3.7 tons, was...

Following the meeting that concluded on Wednesday, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the American Central Bank, stated that the country's inflation rate is still too high and that more progress in bringing it down is not assured. He claimed that there has been no additional evidence of inflation slowing down in recent months. He declared, "We are totally committed to getting inflation back to our...

According to a report by the State Statistics Office (SSO), the combined profit of China's major industrial businesses surged by 4.3% on an annual basis to a total of 1 trillion 505.5 billion yuan in the first quarter. The SSO defines large industrial businesses as those with yearly revenues of more above 20 million yuan ($2.82 million). Between January and March, state-owned businesses'...

The current recession significantly reduced global commodity prices, which contributed to the previous year's inflation slowdown. This, in turn, could make it more challenging for central banks around the world to swiftly lower interest rates, reads the World Bank's (WB) Commodity Markets Outlook. The WB analysts believe that the escalating Middle East war could reverse the recent two-year trend...

According to the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, India imported 2.164 million tons of liquefied natural gas in February 2024, a 56% increase from 1.384 million tons in the same month the previous year. Since May 2022, this level has been the highest in the previous 20 months. Following $436 in January, the average import price finally reached $422 per thousand cubic meters. Reduced prices...

Julian Emmanuel, an analyst with Evercore ISI, believes that the U.S. stock market, which started declining after hitting record highs in March, is entering a slump that would extend through the remainder of 2024, Bloomberg reports. The analyst maintained his forecast that the S&P 500 index will drop to 4,750 points by year's end, which would be more than 5% less than its closing value of...

The largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, the Norwegian Sovereign Pension Fund (also known as the Oil Fund), reported an investment return of 6.3%, or NOK 1.21 trillion ($110 billion), in the first quarter of 2024 amidst soaring stock markets and a sinking national currency. As of the end of March, the fund reported that its assets under management amounted to NOK 17.72 trillion. 72.1% of...

The People's Bank of China pumped 100 billion yuan ($13.82 billion) into the financial system as part of its medium-term lending program (MLF) on April 15. The PBC said in a statement that the interest rate on one-year loans made available under the MLF stayed at 2.5%. It was last modified by the bank in August 2023, when it was lowered by 15 basis points (bps). This month, loans totaling 170...

China's long-term foreign currency Issuer Default Rating (IDR) of "A+" has been confirmed by international rating agency Fitch. However, the agency revised the forecast from stable to unfavorable. China's Ministry of Finance disapproved the conclusion. In a news release, the agency stated that the reason for the modification in the assessment was the increasing risks to China's public finances...