While Australian sector players are scrapping earlier production plans, China can use the decline in lithium prices to bolster its position in this market, reports The Financial Times referring to data from the company and estimations from analysts. Because of an abundance of supply, the price of lithium has dropped by more than 80% in the last year, to $13.2 thousand per ton, the lowest since...

The Bank of Canada maintained its benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, marking the highest level since 2001, at 5% annually. Trading Economics notes that the regulator's decision was in line with analysts' forecasts. The central bank decided not to alter the rate for the fourth meeting in a row. The Governing Council expressed its continued concern for inflationary concerns, particularly the...

Australia's Future Fund assets increased by 8% in 2023 to a record high following a market rally at year-end on expectations that central banks would begin reducing interest rates. According to sources, state fund assets increased by $15.6 billion during the year to 211.85 billion Australian dollars ($139.2 billion) at the end of December. At the end of 2021, a high of $203.6 billion was...

In light of the outcomes of the two-day meeting that concluded on Tuesday, the Bank of Japan decided to maintain the main monetary policy parameters in place. The Japanese central bank said in a statement that the target yield on ten-year government bonds is about zero, and the short-term interest rate on deposits held by commercial banks with the Central Bank remains at minus 0.1% annually....

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...