[ LONDON: US and European stock markets rose Wednesday and gold hit a record high as the Federal Reserve kept alive expectations of rate cuts later this year and the British government unveiled a pro-growth budget.In volatile trading, gold touched 2,150, well above its previous high of $2,141.79 as expectations of lower interests rates hurt … Read more
[ Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. posted an increase in operating earnings as higher interest rates and fewer catastrophes benefited the conglomerate’s insurance business.The firm reported fourth-quarter operating earnings of $8.48 billion, versus $6.63 billion for same period a year earlier. The results were helped by a jump in insurance underwriting earnings and investment income … Read more
[ Senior citizen tax-saving FDs: As you age, it’s best to pick safer investments, experts say. That’s why many senior citizens like putting their money in stable options like bank fixed deposits (FDs). Plus, investing in five-year tax-saving bank FDs gives you tax perks. However, it is important to note only those who stick with … Read more
[ Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Americans may have to wait beyond March for the central bank to cut interest rates as officials look for more economic data to confirm that inflation is headed down to 2%.In an interview conducted Thursday with CBS’s 60 Minutes that aired Sunday evening, Powell sought to explain the … Read more
[ NEW YORK: Oil prices fell by about 2% on Friday and posted weekly losses after US jobs data shrank the odds of imminent interest rate cuts in the world’s largest economy, which could dampen crude demand. Faltering growth in China and the possibility of some easing of tensions in the Middle East also reduced … Read more
[ Homeowners in England and Wales who sold up last year made an average of around £100,000 more than the amount they originally paid for their property, according to analysis by an estate agents. Hamptons, which carried out the research, looked at people who had bought their homes in the past 20 years and then … Read more
[ The country’s biggest mortgage lender, Halifax, slashed mortgage rates today with others set to follow in a “fight” to secure business at the start of the year. The bank has taken the decision to cut rates by up to 0.83 percentage points and now offers a two-year fix at 4.81 per cent for those … Read more
[ Small Savings Scheme Interest Rates 2024: The government has declared the interest rates for small savings schemes for the January-March 2024 quarter. In a circular released by the finance ministry on December 29, 2023, it was revealed that certain small savings schemes and post office schemes will experience an increase in their interest rates … Read more
[ MOST Asian currencies and equities strengthened on Tuesday, with the Malaysian ringgit hovering at more than a four-month high, as cooling U.S. inflation bolstered bets the Federal Reserve would cut interest rates soon. The ringgit, the worst-performing currency in the region so far, appreciated 0.3% against the dollar and maintained the mid-August high it … Read more
[ WASHINGTON: Major European central banks on Thursday stuck with plans to keep their policy interest rates higher for longer to fight inflation that is proving stickier in some parts of the world than others, dashing any hope that a US Federal Reserve pivot towards interest rate cuts marked a global turning point.Extending the hawkish … Read more
