Page 88 - Eco News Today

Anxiety is increasing in parts of Wall Street that rely on Treasury securities to function, with some traders starting to avoid U.S. government debt that comes due in June and others preparing to deal with securities at risk of default.

The dollar stood near a two-month high against its major peers on Friday and was headed for a third weekly gain on expectations that U.S. interest rates could remain higher for longer than initially expected.

Brazilian central bank chief Roberto Campos Neto said on Thursday that a fiscal framework bill approved a day earlier by the country's lower house has had a positive impact on inflation forecasts and long-term interest rates.

European shares inched up on Friday on gains in mining and technology stocks although the main benchmarks were set for steep weekly losses on growing concerns over a slowing global economy and the debt ceiling talks in the United States.

The South African rand made a marginal recovery early on Friday from a new record low struck overnight, after a central bank interest rate hike failed to impress some traders and economists.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan aims to extend his rule into a third decade in an election on Sunday, with the momentum seen in his favour in the runoff vote after a first round showed him ahead of his challenger, Kemal Kilicdaroglu.

British consumers picked up the pace of their spending last month and sales volumes over the three months to April grew by the most since mid-2021, according to official data that suggested limited impact from the surge in inflation.

Drawn-out negotiations between the White House and Republicans to raise the $31.4 trillion debt ceiling have unnerved markets and fanned worries about the economic impact of a possible default.

As the United States stares at the risk of a credit downgrade, former Standard & Poor's officials stood firm behind their seminal 2011 call to slash the country's rating as the right decision.

The following are comments from key European Central Bank policymakers in the run up to the June 15 policy meeting.