recession

U.S. stock investors could not be more eager to turn the page on 2022, a brutal year dominated by market-punishing Federal Reserve rate hikes designed to tamp down the steepest inflation in 40 years.

Oil prices rose in light trade on Tuesday on concerns that winter storms across the United States are affecting logistics and production of petroleum products and shale oil.

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets from Jamie McGeever.

A short-lived bounce for global stocks faded on Thursday, as easing U.S. inflation expectations were overshadowed by fears about an economic downturn.

The global financial crisis has cost Britain up to £7.4 trillion in lost output alone.

Corporate earnings growth is expected to slow in the year ahead in many countries as higher inflation and rising interest rates take an even bigger toll and companies brace for the likelihood of a global economic downturn.

A ninth interest rate hike in a row by the Bank of England looks to be a foregone conclusion on Thursday and investors will be looking for clues on how many more will be needed with the economy sliding into recession but inflation still above 10%.

The dollar eased on Friday as worries over a slowdown in the United States mounted, with traders on guard ahead of a slew of central bank meetings next week, where the Federal Reserve takes centre stage.

Britain will set out reforms on Friday to ease bank capital rules, one of 30 measures the government says will unlock investment and secure its position as the world's "foremost financial centre".

The Bank of England and the government's independent spending watchdog have both said Brexit has hurt the UK economy and plunged it to the brink of recession.

The culinary tourism business of Brian Bergey and his wife Ruixi Hu has persevered in China through three years of harsh COVID-19 restrictions.

The UK has forecast its economy to shrink 1.4 percent next year, hit additionally by fallout from Brexit which has resulted in foreign workers returning home.

As inflation rockets and recession looms, many British businesses are struggling to secure affordable bank finance, piling pressure on the embattled UK government as it unveiled a budget aimed at reviving the economy.

British businesses fear a gloomy Christmas ahead, as almost half of households plan to cut festive spending due to the soaring cost of living and sales are already falling sharply in inflation-adjusted terms.

The move would mirror aggressive rate-tightening by central banks worldwide as economies battle the highest prices in decades.

The cost of fresh food in British shops last month was 13.3% higher than a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in records going back to 2005, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday.

Germany's economy unexpectedly grew in the third quarter, official data showed Friday, but slowing growth in France and Spain added to fears that high inflation and an energy crisis will tip the region into recession.

Barclays beat forecasts with a small rise in third-quarter profit on Wednesday lifted by a record performance in fixed income trading, but costs and loan charges crept higher in a sign of ongoing challenges.

The global economy is approaching a recession as economists polled by Reuters once again cut growth forecasts for key economies while central banks keep raising interest rates to bring down persistently-high inflation.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Ben Broadbent told investors on Thursday that the big increases in interest rates they had priced in on the back of Prime Minister Liz Truss's fiscal plans would deliver a "pretty material" hit to the economy.

The European Central Bank is set to warn of the adverse impact on Spanish banks' solvency of a proposed tax on the sector and of a higher cost of credit in an upcoming non-binding opinion, two sources with direct knowledge of the matter said.

British house prices rose last month at their slowest pace since early in the coronavirus crisis and they look on course to fall as a surge in mortgage costs adds to uncertainty about the economy for home-buyers, a survey showed on Thursday.

British companies are the most downbeat about the outlook for their profits since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic in late 2020 despite widespread plans to raise prices, a major survey showed on Thursday, adding to signs of gloom about the economy.

Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, forecast full-year profit at the lower end of its previous guidance, blaming uncertainty over how consumer spending will evolve amid a worsening cost-of-living squeeze.

Britain's surging inflation could slow if new Prime Minister Liz Truss helps households and businesses cope with rocketing energy costs, but it is too soon to say what that will mean for interest rates, the BoE's chief economist said.

British shoppers are cutting back on purchases of clothes and other non-essential items as they try to cover their sky-rocketing utility bills and higher food prices, surveys showed on Tuesday.

The euro zone is almost certainly entering a recession, with surveys on Monday showing a deepening cost of living crisis and a gloomy outlook that is keeping consumers wary of spending.

The German economy is on track to contract for three consecutive quarters starting from this one, according to a Reuters poll of economists, following a dramatic spike in gas prices after Russia slashed deliveries to Europe.

Manufacturing activity across the euro zone declined again last month as consumers feeling the pinch from a deepening cost of living crisis cut spending, a survey showed on Thursday, providing more evidence of the growing risk of recession.

European Central Bank policymakers made the case on Saturday for a large interest rate hike next month as inflation remains uncomfortably high and the public may be losing trust in the bank's inflation-fighting credentials.