China trade, Singapore GDP Taylor Swift boost

Bank of Korea quit banking Key policy interest rates remain unchanged It was 3.50% for the 10th consecutive time.

The central bank said in a statement that it is “still too early to be confident that inflation will converge to the target level,” given the “high degree of uncertainty associated with the outlook for consumer price inflation.”

South Korea’s consumer prices rose 3.1% year-on-year in March, but are still far from the 2% target.

“The Board will therefore maintain a restrictive monetary policy stance for a sufficient period until such confidence is established,” the central bank said.

—Li Yingshan

Singapore’s financial authorities are adhered to the policythe policy band width and level remain unchanged.

Unlike other economies, Singapore uses exchange rate settings rather than benchmark rates when determining monetary policy, changing policy bands to adjust for the strength of the Singapore dollar against a basket of undisclosed currencies. doing.

The monetary authority also said it expects inflation in the city-state to remain high in the coming quarters, before “declining more markedly” from the fourth quarter of 2024 to 2025.

— Lim Huijie

Korean Seasonally adjusted unemployment rate The rate was 2.8% in March, up from 2.6% in February.

The labor force participation rate in March was 64.3%, an increase of 0.2 points from the same month last year.

Separately, the ratio of employment to population was 62.4%, an increase of 0.2 points compared to the same period last year.

— Lim Huijie

Oil futures fell on Thursday as concerns about inflation overshadowed concerns about a possible Iranian attack on Israel for the time being.

West Texas Intermediate for May delivery fell $1.19, or 1.38%, to settle at $85.02 per barrel. Brent futures for June fell 74 cents, or 0.82%, to settle at $89.74 a barrel.

Oil prices rose more than 1% on Wednesday after Bloomberg News reported that the United States and its allies believe an Iranian attack on Israel is imminent.

But Phil Flynn, senior market analyst at Price Futures Group, said the geopolitical risks that pushed prices higher in the previous session were countered Thursday, and the attack has yet to materialize.

— Spencer Kimball

Amazon stock rose 1.7% on Thursday, hitting an all-time high. It hit a record high for the first time since July 2021.

CEO Andy Jassy released his annual shareholder letter on Thursday, vowing to cut costs while boosting investment in new areas such as artificial intelligence.

New York Fed President John Williams said Thursday he expects inflation to continue slowing this year, but acknowledged the process will not be smooth.

“We expect inflation to continue its gradual recovery to 2%, but as we have seen in recent inflation statistics, there will be some bumps along the way,” central bank officials said in a speech to bankers in New York. There will be waves,” he said.

The comments came a day after the March consumer price index showed inflation was running at an annual rate of 3.5%, well above the Fed’s 2% target. He noted progress in inflation since its peak, which exceeded 9% in June 2022, but said the Fed’s job is not done yet.

“The economy has come a long way to achieve a better balance and reach the 2% inflation target. But we still have a long way to go to achieve a better balance and reach the 2% inflation target. “I am committed to achieving maximum employment and long-term price stability,” he said.

— Jeff Cox

The producer price index rose 0.2% in March as investors tried to weather mixed inflation signals. Economists compiled by Dow Jones expected the PPI to rise by 0.3%. Core CPI rose 0.2%, as expected.

— Fred Imbert