In January of 2024, the U.S. consumer confidence index increased from 69.7 points to 78.8 points, the highest level since July 2021, reads an early report from the University of Michigan, the organization that determines this metric. According to Trading Economics, the analysts' consensus estimate called for increase to 70 points. In January of the previous year, the indicator's value was 64.9...

The FT reports that US asset managers are competing to introduce new bitcoin ETFs following the SEC's approval of ETF registration in January. According to the Financial Times, which cites documents, ProShares company has submitted an application to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to introduce five bitcoin-ETFs. These comprise inverse ETFs, in which the value of assets fluctuates...

Global economic growth in 2023 was a little faster than anticipated, and this will help things in 2024, according to Kristalina Georgieva, managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She stated, "The global economy has been remarkably resilient," during a Davos interview with Bloomberg. "2023 has surpassed our expectations by a small margin. And that optimistic outlook will...

Houthi attacks in Yemen could lead to faster inflation and higher energy prices in Europe, according to European Commissioner for Economic Affairs Paolo Gentiloni, cited Bloomberg. "We know that this year started with slow growth, good news on the labor market, but growing concerns about the risks caused by geopolitical tensions, especially what is happening in the Red Sea," the Commissioner...

China State Railway Group reports that 3.68 billion passengers used China's rail transportation services in 2023, which was a record number. Additionally, the amount of freight carried by rail hit a record-breaking 3.91 billion tons. According to the corporation, total revenue from rail transportation increased by 39% to 964.1 billion yuan ($135.8 billion) in the previous year, as reported by...

According to Michael Barr, the Fed's deputy chairman for financial supervision, the U.S. Federal Reserve does not intend to prolong the emergency lending program (Bank Term Funding Program, BTFP), which was started in 2023 to strengthen the banking sector following the failure of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), reports MarketWatch. Barr stated that the program will come to an end on March 11 when its...

Bitcoin hit 21-month highs on the afternoon of January 8 and continued to rise overnight on January 9, trading above $47,000 for the first time since April 2022. According to Bloomberg, Bitcoin crossed the $47,000 mark on the afternoon of January 8th for the first time since April 2022. The agency notes that the first and largest cryptocurrency by capitalization increased by 6.2 percent during...

The amount of IPOs in India fell by 16% in 2023, totaling roughly $6.8 billion. According to experts cited in the Nikkei Asia edition, the number of companies that went public rose to 57 from 40 the previous year. Simultaneously, the proportion of Indian first public offers (IPOs) in the worldwide initial public offering volume hit a record 5.98%, nearly tripling in the last two years. In...

Amidst the anticipation of a potential interest rate decrease by the Federal Reserve (Fed) in 2024, investors were assessing corporate news as the U.S. stock market started the final week of the year with a positive outlook. According to CME FedWatch, traders anticipate that there is an 82% chance that the Fed will lower rates by at least 25 basis points in March. The growth of the PCE Core...