Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams said financial strain among lower and middle-income Americans could threaten the US economy’s resilience, even as wealthier households benefit from a stock market boom, the Financial Times reported. 

The Fed’s next rate decision in December is “really a balancing act,” the FT quoted Williams as saying in an interview. While “inflation is high, and it’s not showing signs of coming down right now,” the US economy “is showing some resilience,” he told the newspaper. (BBG – Continue Reading) 

Bank of Japan policymakers saw a growing case to raise interest rates in the near term, with some calling for the need to ensure companies' wage-hike momentum will be sustained, a summary of opinions at the October meeting showed on Monday.

Of the 13 opinions on monetary policy from the nine-member board, eight called for the need to raise interest rates soon or laid out specific conditions to hike borrowing costs in the near-term horizon, the summary showed. 

"While the current situation may not require immediate action, the Bank should not miss the timing to raise the policy interest rate," one member was quoted as saying in the summary. (RTRS – Continue Reading) 

China’s downward price pressures further eased in October, in part thanks to the boost from a weeklong holiday as well as Beijing’s continuing efforts to curb excess capacity in some key sectors.

The country’s consumer-price index unexpectedly rose 0.2% from a year earlier last month, reversing the 0.3% drop in September, data released by the National Bureau of Statistics showed Sunday. A poll of economists by The Wall Street Journal had predicted the index to stay flat. 

Meanwhile, the producer-price index dropped 2.1% from a year earlier in October, narrowing from the 2.3% fall in the prior month but remaining in negative territory for more than three years. Surveyed economists had tipped a 2.3% decline. (WSJ – Continue Reading)