The U.S. dollar rose against the euro on Friday, as investor unease about the potential economic fallout from Federal Reserve's efforts to squash inflation bubbled to the surface, souring risk sentiment on Wall Street.
Wall Street's main stock indexes slumped on Friday, with the benchmark S&P 500 on track to confirm a decline of more than 20% or more from its Jan. 3 record closing high, a commonly used metric to determine a bear market.
Sterling was set for its biggest weekly gain since December 2020 against a weakening dollar as the latest economic data suggested the market might not need to scale back its expectations for Bank of England rate hikes much further. The U.S. dollar was headed for its worst week since early February, showing fatigue after the currency's breathless 10%, 14-week surge.
Equatorial Guinea's ailing economy has been dented by the pandemic and a series of deadly dynamite explosions in 2021 despite government efforts to mitigate the impact of these shocks on the oil-producing nation, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.
Mexican inflation is forecast to have slowed in the first half of May, although still far above central bank targets, a Reuters poll showed Friday, reinforcing expectations of continued interest rate hikes through the rest of the year.
By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed. The U.S. dollar recouped some of its losses against the euro on Friday, but remained set for its worst weekly performance against the common currency since early February as investors questioned whether the greenback's month-long rally was done.
The Baltic Exchange's main sea freight index rose on Friday to gain for a sixth consecutive week on stronger vessel rates across segments. * The overall index, which factors in rates for capesize, panamax, supramax and handysize shipping vessels, gained 55 points, or 1.7%, to 3,344 points. * The capesize index rose 141 points, or 3.2%, to 4,526 points.
Tunisia's current account deficit is expected to widen to around 10% of GDP in 2022, against 6.8% initially forecast, the central bank governor said on Friday, as the North Africa country is suffering its worst financail crisis. In the first four months of this year, the dinar has marked a depreciation of 7% against the dollar, Marouan Abassi said.
Not all is rosy for Mexico's economy as it deals with a two-decade annual inflation high and sluggish economic growth, but consumption levels have now reached pre-pandemic levels in Latin America's second-largest economy.
Not all is rosy for Mexico's
economy as it deals with a two-decade annual inflation high and
sluggish economic growth, but consumption levels have now
reached pre-pandemic levels in Latin ...
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