Economic Highlights
Date: August 16, 2018 United States: Powell to Keep Hiking as U.S. Growth Trumps Turkish Turmoil That’s the message seasoned watchers of the Federal Reserve have for any investors hoping that turmoil in Turkey and the wider emerging-market selloff would stay the hand of Chairman Jerome Powell from raising interest rates. While international developments did
Date: August 15, 2018 General Accident Insurance Company Limited (GENAC) reported Net Premium Written of $839.89 million, a 25% increase from the $673.34 million reported in 2017. This increase was driven by a 2% increase in Gross Premium Written to $4.65 billion for the period, up from the $4.55 billion in 2017. In addition, Reinsurance
Date: August 15, 2018 United States: Productivity in U.S. Climbs 2.9%, Fastest Pace in Three Years Productivity gains in the U.S. accelerated by more than expected to the fastest pace since 2015 while labor costs fell, amid an economic-growth pickup supported by tax cuts and federal spending, a Labor Department report showed Wednesday. The data
Date: August 14, 2018 JMMB Group Limited - (JMMBGL) for the three months ended June 30, 2018 booked Net interest income of $2.07 billion compared to $1.91 billion in 2017, an increase of 8%. Of this, Interest income grew by 7% to close at $4.24 billion, from the $3.96 billion booked in 2017, while interest
Date: August 14, 2018 United States: Investors Haven’t Been This Bullish on U.S. Stocks Since 2015 The bull run that has taken U.S. equities to record highs this year may be about to reach its peak, according to the latest survey of fund managers by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Allocations to U.S. stocks jumped 10
Date: August 13, 2018 United States: Fed Dove Evans Veers in Hawkish Direction Over Rate Outlook The Federal Reserve may need to raise interest rates to “somewhat restrictive” levels to combat the effects of recent fiscal stimulus on the U.S. economy, said Chicago Fed President Charles Evans in hawkish comments from one of the central
August 10, 2018 The Bureau of Labour Statistics reported that, “Real average hourly earnings for all employees were unchanged from June to July. This result stems from a 0.3 percent increase in average hourly earnings combined with a 0.2 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index for all Urban Consumers (CPI-U).” The report mentioned that
Date: August 10, 2018 United States: U.S. Consumer Prices Rise; Core Posts Biggest Gain Since 2008 U.S. consumer prices rose in July, with a gauge excluding food and fuel costs posting the biggest annual gain since 2008, underpinning expectations that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month. The consumer-price index rose 0.2 percent
Brent Oil Brent oil prices decreased by 1.65% or US$1.21, as prices fell this week. Oil traded on August 9, 2018 at a price of US$72.19 per barrel relative to US$73.40 last week. Brent oil began the year at US$68.07 per barrel. Petrojam prices 87 Octane prices decreased week over week, by 0.25% (JMD$0.35). Additionally,
Date: August 9, 2018 United States: U.S. Oil Vanishing From China Tariffs Reveals American Clout The removal of U.S. crude from goods targeted by Chinese tariffs is a sign that America has become too big to ignore in the oil market. Less than two months after threatening to impose levies on imports of U.S. crude,
