Town Hall News

By Chen Lin SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Singapore’s key consumer price gauge rose 5.5% in February, unchanged from the previous month and lower than forecast, official data showed on Thursday. The core inflation rate – which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs – compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 5.8% increase in February. Lower prices for services were broadly offset in the core inflation […]

By Lananh Nguyen and Saeed Azhar (Reuters) -Citigroup Inc CEO Jane Fraser on Wednesday expressed confidence in U.S. banks after a series of closures rattled investors and fueled turmoil in global financial markets. “The banking system is pretty sound,” and large and regional banks are well-capitalized, Fraser told the Economic Club of Washington D.C. on Wednesday. “This is not a credit crisis. This is a situation where it’s a few […]

By Lewis Krauskopf NEW YORK (Reuters) – The end of the Federal Reserve’s bruising rate hiking cycle may be in sight, yet investors are finding plenty to worry about when it comes to the U.S. stock market. In its first meeting since the collapse of two U.S. banks this month and the downfall of ailing European lender Credit Suisse, the Fed on Wednesday raised interest rates by a quarter of […]

By Ben Blanchard and Gustavo Palencia TAIPEI/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -The Honduran foreign minister is travelling to China to “promote” the establishment of diplomatic ties, an official said, signalling the end is most likely near for the country’s decades-long relations with Taiwan. At stake is China’s growing footprint in Central America, once a steadfast base for Taiwan and where the United States is worried about Beijing’s expanding influence in its backyard. Honduran […]

A look at the day ahead in European and global markets from Tom Westbrook Markets reckon the Fed is pretty much done now with rate hikes, but see a different story in Europe. The European Central Bank set the tone last week by sticking with a 50 basis point hike. Today, it’s over to Norges Bank, the Bank of England and the Swiss National Bank to see whether the gap […]

By Ben Blanchard and Gustavo Palencia TAIPEI/TEGUCIGALPA (Reuters) -The Honduran foreign minister is travelling to China to “promote” the establishment of diplomatic ties, an official said, signalling the end is most likely near for the country’s decades-long relations with Taiwan. At stake is China’s growing footprint in Central America, once a steadfast base for Taiwan and where the United States is worried about Beijing’s expanding influence in its backyard. Honduran […]

By Dan Williams JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel ratified a law on Thursday limiting the circumstances in which a prime minister can be removed, despite worries voiced by a government jurist that it may be meant to shield the incumbent Benjamin Netanyahu from any fallout from his corruption trials. The amended definition for the “incapacity” of national leaders is among legislative measures by the religious-nationalist coalition that have tipped Israel into […]

By Soo-hyang Choi BUSAN, South Korea (Reuters) – South Korean and U.S. troops launched their largest amphibious landing drills in years involving a U.S. amphibious assault ship, officials said on Thursday, a day after North Korea tested four long-range cruise missiles. The USS Makin Island docked at a naval base in the southeastern port city of Busan on Wednesday to join the Ssangyong exercise, which kicked off on Monday near […]

By Joey Roulette WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Relativity Space’s 3D-printed rocket lifted off for the first time on Wednesday, passing a key milestone to demonstrate the vehicle’s in-flight strength before its second stage failed upon reaching space, a company live stream showed. The California-based company’s 110-foot tall Terran 1 rocket, which is 85% made of 3D-printed parts, lifted off on its debut flight around 11:25 p.m. EDT (0325 GMT on Thursday) […]