A European Central Bank interest rate cut on June 6 appears certain, according to all 82 economists polled by Reuters, a majority of whom predicted two further reductions in September and December.

But financial markets are pricing only two ECB rate cuts in total in 2024, a sharp pullback from six expected at the start of the year, presenting an uncommon situation where economic forecasters expect more rate reductions than traders.

(Continue Reading - MS)

Inflation in three German states inched up in May, preliminary data showed, suggesting that national inflation may rise slightly although the picture was mixed with a lower rate in one state.

The inflation rate in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, rose to 2.5% year-on-year in May from 2.3% in April.

In Bavaria, the rate was up in May at 2.7% from 2.5% and in Saxony it rose to 3.1% from 2.7%.

However, the figures were mixed as in Brandenburg the rate nudged down to 2.9% from 3.0%. In Hesse and Baden-Wuerttemberg the rate stayed flat at 1.9% and 2.1% respectively.

(Continue Reading - MS)

South Africans are voting in an election on Wednesday that looks set to reshape a political landscape dominated for three decades by the party that Nelson Mandela led to power.

The African National Congress has won every vote since the end of White-minority rule in 1994, but its support slipped from a peak of almost 70% in 2004 to 57.5% in 2019, and most opinion polls conducted before the election point to it losing its parliamentary majority for the first time.

(Continue Reading - BBG)