An index measuring South African business sentiment rose to a four-month high in July as tourism numbers and new vehicle sales increased. 

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry business confidence index rose to 110.3, from 108.5 in June, and the reference year was adjusted to 2020 to account for the latest trends in the economy and financial markets, the group said Wednesday in an emailed statement. That’s the highest level since March and may signal the business climate is gradually returning to normality, SACCI said. 

New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is one step closer to rolling out a congestion pricing plan that would charge some motorists as much as $23 to enter Manhattan’s central business district. 

The tolling scenarios for the plan, a first for a US city, were outlined in an Environmental Assessment

An anti-activism exchange-traded fund of sorts has launched to supposedly “unshackle” energy companies from climate concerns that some investors have forced them to reckon with. 

The aim of the Strive US Energy ETF (ticker

The expansion of confidential filings that big managers must file quarterly with the SEC would mark one of the biggest increases in regulation for the private-fund industry in a decade. The effort is the latest move by Biden administration regulators to clamp down on a relatively opaque corner of finance that they say can have major impacts on markets. 

Treasury yields plunged across most of the curve as cooler-than-expected inflation data prompted traders to pare their bets on the amount of tightening that the Federal Reserve is likely to do.

Rates on shorter-dated Treasury notes led the move, with the two-year benchmark at one stage plummeting nearly 20 basis points to 3.07%. Swaps showed the amount of tightening priced for the Fed’s Sept. 21 decision tumbling to around 59 basis points, suggesting a move of 50 basis points is seen as more likely than a repeat of the 75-basis-point increases that officials have opted to implement at their past two meetings. Markets also showed traders now expect the fed benchmark to peak somewhere around 3.5% in the first part of 2023.

Evidence of the inflation pressure on Wendy’s was twofold. First, it showed up in US same-store sales, which rose just 2.3% in the quarter ended July 3, the company said in a

The Federal Reserve will probably continue raising interest rates into next year to bring down “unacceptably high” inflation, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said. 

“We’ve tightened monetary policy quite a lot, very quickly,” Evans said Wednesday at an event hosted by Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. “I expect that we will be increasing rates the rest of this year and into next year to make sure inflation gets back to our 2% objective.”

Cryptocurrencies surged on Wednesday after a softer-than-expected inflation report, with Ethereum leading the pack with a greater-than-7% gain. 

Ether’s native token, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, rose around 8% to trade at $1,828 as of 10:17 a.m. in New York. Bitcoin added 3.5% to $23,950, and other altcoins like Polkadot and Avalanche also rallied, up 6% and 8%, respectively. An index of 100 of the largest digital assets was up 4.4%. 

Russell will remain on the board following his departure, the company said Wednesday in a

“The current gas pricing uncertainty holds risk” for the biggest buyers, the Industrial Gas Users Association of Southern Africa said in a statement Wednesday, referring to a 96% price increase that took effect Aug. 1.

For Louisiana Francois, who sank $10,000 into what prosecutors say was a Ponzi-like crypto scheme, driving four hours from her home outside Boston to watch the man who allegedly took her money appear in court was an easy call.

But she didn’t go to condemn him. She went to cheer him on.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida replaced the female minister in charge of tackling the country’s falling birthrate and installed a man who sought to deepen his understanding of the issue by trying out a “pregnancy belly.”

Kishida reshuffled his cabinet Wednesday and named former Bank of Japan official Masanobu Ogura, 41, to take over the post from ruling party veteran Seiko Noda, a mother of one. In

For many women, the work-from-home revolution has felt, for the first time, as if they might just be able to reach that mythical place of having it all. Women love the reduced or nonexistent commuting times; they love spending less time on their physical appearance and less money on their wardrobe. Hard-charging

The preliminary discussions are expected to focus on the secured portion of the financing ahead of official sales, or syndications, that could launch right after the US Labor Day holiday in early September, according to people with knowledge of the matter who asked not to be identified when discussing a private transaction.

Genesis, one of the largest cryptocurrency lenders and brokerages for institutional investors, said it originated more than $40 billion in new loans in the second quarter, a 9% drop from the previous three-month period. 

The company had $4.9 billion in active loans as of the end of June, and said it saw more than $17 billion in spot volume trading during the second quarter, according to a report released Wednesday. Institutional activity was “muted” during the stretch and in June in particular amid an onslaught of negative crypto-centric events, including the implosion or bankruptcies of different hedge funds and lenders. Meanwhile, it saw a 66% drop in active loans outstanding to $4.9 billion from $14.6 billion in the first quarter. 

Current “undesirably high inflation” follows a long battle against deflationary trends in the 19-member euro zone, with the transition from record-low interest rates needing to be “gradual,” authors Ursel Baumann, Christophe Kamps and Manfred Kremer said. 

France has lost its position as Europe’s biggest exporter of electricity as the nation struggles with extended outages at its nuclear power fleet.

France’s position has dramatically changed from a year ago as it needed to import more power than it exported during the first half of this year, according to energy data analyst

It’s the first time since early 2021 that the consumer price index headline reading was

US inflation decelerated in July by more than expected, reflecting lower energy prices, which may take some pressure off the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively hiking interest rates.

The consumer price index increased 8.5% from a year earlier, cooling from the 9.1% June advance that was the largest in four decades, Labor Department data showed Wednesday. Prices were unchanged from the prior month. A decline in gasoline offset increases in food and shelter costs. 

US inflation decelerated in July by more than expected, reflecting lower energy prices, which may take some pressure off the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively hiking interest rates.

The consumer price index increased 8.5% from a year earlier, cooling from the 9.1% June advance that was the largest in four decades, Labor Department data showed Wednesday. Prices were unchanged from the prior month. A decline in gasoline offset increases in food and shelter costs. 

US inflation decelerated in July by more than expected, reflecting lower energy prices, which may take some pressure off the Federal Reserve to continue aggressively hiking interest rates.

The consumer price index increased 8.5% from a year earlier, cooling from the 9.1% June advance that was the largest in four decades, Labor Department data showed Wednesday. Prices were unchanged from the prior month. A decline in gasoline offset increases in food and shelter costs.