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Even as the economy undergoes what may be wrenching changes, the Federal Reserve on Wednesday is expected to signal it could cut its key interest rate twice this year — the same forecast it issued in December

economic slowdown, according to its bulletin. «Policymakers are now walking a tightrope, having to balance the upward strain of rising prices on account of tariffs and currency depreciation, as well as the downward pressure on inflation from economic slowdown,» according to the document.

US Fed Meeting LIVE: The US Federal Reserve will announce its second policy decision for 2024 after a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today amid stagflationary risks threatening the US economy due to US President Donald Trump's tariff hikes which have escalated a global trade war.Wall Street eyes the US central bank to hold the benchmark interest rate steady in today's monetary policy verdict amid the volatile trade policy and economic uncertainty hurting the world's largest economy. Economists have sounded alarm about ‘stagflation’—a combination of still-high inflation and a weak or stagnant economy after sharp cuts to government spending and layoffs.Also Read: US Fed to unveil policy verdict amid ‘stagflation risk’, chief Jerome Powell eyes rate pause: 5 key things to knowUS Fed eyes interest rate pause?Earlier this month, US Fed chief Jerome Powell said at a New York research conference that the US Federal Reserve is likely to keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged in the coming months as it waits for widespread uncertainty stemming from Donald Trump's policies.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) initiated the much-expected rate-cut cycle in February. The repo rate was cut from 6.5% to 6.25% on 7 February.

Japan has reported its exports grew at an 11% annual pace in February while imports declined slightly, leaving a surplus after two straight months of deficits as worries grow about President Donald Trump’s tariff hikes

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The decade ending 2023-24 shows an interesting trend of a distinct decline in the contribution of manufacturing to India’s overall story of economic growth. While it may not exactly be called ‘de-industrialization,’ given the high level of sophistication we have reached in terms of the spread and quality of products, a grand shift to services is discernible and may prove quite challenging to reverse.

Ed Yardeni of Yardeni Research, says the US stock market has weakened since the middle of February as the Magnificent Seven have declined by about 15% since the beginning of the year. But other stock markets have actually done well. Germany, China. India seems to be stabilising. Money already has been going global. It has left the United States and that may continue to be the case. It is as though the stock markets are saying that the tariff situation is going to be worse for the US than for the rest of the world. But the markets are also saying that the US has been expensive What is your expectation from the Fed this time, a status quo? Ed Yardeni: Status quo. Nothing different from everybody else. The Fed has communicated that they are in no hurry to ease. I view that as a fundamentally dovish stance because the alternative would have been to say there is no hurry to do anything. In which case, the message would be rates could be here for a long time, not going up, not going down. But they have been saying over and over again that they are in no hurry to ease, so they are clearly thinking about lowering interest rates and depending on how this tariff turmoil turns out there may be a weak enough economy out there that they will ease. The problem is they may also get some inflation out of tariffs. So, they could really be boxed in and really be in no hurry to do anything for a while.

Total exports rose 11.4% year-on-year in February, data showed, less than a median market forecast for a 12.1% increase and following a 7.2% rise in January. The threat of Trump's aggressive tariffs has led some Japanese companies such as Sony Group to stockpile inventory in the United States, a step that could have temporarily boosted overall export volumes. Exports to the U.S. rose 10.5% in February from a year earlier, while those to China were up 14.1%, the data showed. Shipments to China may have been affected by more working days last month, with the Lunar New Year holiday ending earlier than usual this year.

Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the Federal Reserve later in the day. Overnight, Israeli airstrikes pounded Gaza and killed more than 400 people, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to reach an agreement on a Ukraine ceasefire and Germany's outgoing parliament approved plans for a massive spending surge.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. At every dinner party, Aaron ‘Ronnie’ Chatterji, OpenAI's first chief economist, faces a typical question: “Is AI going to affect my job? What’s it going to do to the economy?" He says it's hard to give a straight answer simply because of the widely varying predictions. “Some Nobel Prize-winning economists estimate AI’s impact on GDP in the low single digits, while others expect double-digit growth.

The NSE Nifty surged 325.55 points, or 1.45%, to close at 22,834.30. The BSE Sensex rose 1131.31 points, or 1.53%, to end at 75,301.26. Both indices have risen about 2% in the last two days.

The survey revealed that the 32 respondents including economists, fund managers, and analysts have raised their chances of a recession to 36%, from 23% two months ago, reported CNBC. As per the survey data, the risk of recession has increased to the highest level in six months, according to the report.

Historically, trade wars have proven economically corrosive. The 1930 Smoot-Hawley tariffs worsened the Great Depression by slashing international trade by 65%. While Trump’s team insists today’s globalized economy is more resilient, experts caution that modern supply chains are deeply interdependent—a single tariff can disrupt industries worldwide. As the 2024 election looms, the stakes couldn’t be higher: voters grappling with inflation may sour on “America First” policies if pocketbook pressures mount.

US economy, a new pattern is surfacing among Americans as they are falling behind on car payments at a record pace, as per a report. This could be a warning sign similar to the 2008 financial crisis, reported Daily Mail.

Data released today (18 March), showed that expectations for higher global growth declined from -2% in February to -44% March, as BofA stated the respondents conviction on global growth is «historically correlated to S&P 500 price action». Over the past month, the S&P 500 has lost around 8.4% of its value, with the index now trading 1.1% lower than on Monday (17 March), data from MarketWatch showed. The Big Question: Can Donald Trump's stance on tariffs work alongside US stock market growth? The rise in pessimism over global economic growth has been the consequence of a worsening o...

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Tuesday said Washington could hold off reciprocal tariffs for countries that halt practices it deems unfair, adding that officials will produce a list of levies on April 2. This is the date on which President Donald Trump has promised reciprocal duties set to affect both US allies and competitors, with tariffs tailored to each trading partner. «What's going to happen on April 2 — each country will receive a number that we believe represents their tariffs,» Bessent told Fox Business in an interview, adding that the level could vary. «We are going to go to them and say, look, here's where we think the tariff levels are, non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation, unfair funding, labor suppression,» he added. If they stop these practices, Bessent said, «we will not put up the tariff wall.»

Texas is continuing to stake a claim as a rival to Wall Street as a key financial hub in the United States, with Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday saying his state has a «stronger brand than New York.»

Respondents to the March CNBC Fed Survey have raised the risk of recession to the highest level in six months, cut their growth forecast for 2025 and raised their inflation outlook.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. A recent report by an investment bank says that the three biggest areas of focus on the economic-policy front for the Indian government right now are striking bilateral trade deals, stepping up investments in strategic industries such as semiconductors and reducing the burden of regulation on firms as well as citizens. The new Economic Survey written by officials in the finance ministry made a compelling case on how a surfeit of outdated regulations hold back the growth of firms, especially smaller enterprises that drive job creation.

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. The consumer spending boom is fading, and that could spell trouble for the global economy. The latest retail sales report missed the mark on Monday.

«Gold demand is not coming only from the individual. Even we have seen lots of central banks increasing their gold holdings. So, the demand is the main reason that gold prices are increasing in last almost five years,» says Anuj Gupta, HDFC Securities. My grandmother used to say, buy gold, do not ever sell gold. It is coming out so true. Gold is up 15x in last 20 years. Why is gold prices moving the way it is moving? Anuj Gupta: See, the demand is the only concern is the main reason that gold prices increased sharply. And also, the uncertainty in the global market. In last five years, in COVID or after the COVID, we saw a huge jump in gold prices due to the demand because now investors are taking gold as an investment, not as a jewellery, so we saw a huge demand in gold bar, in gold coins, the demand is increasing.