India and EU sign landmark free trade agreement
The India-EU FTA was announced January 27 and is billed by leaders as a deal covering about 25 percent of global GDP and creating a free trade zone of roughly two billion people.
The India-EU FTA was announced January 27 and is billed by leaders as a deal covering about 25 percent of global GDP and creating a free trade zone of roughly two billion people.
After nearly 20 years of talks, the deal cuts tariffs on most goods and opens Indian markets to EU firms, with a formal signing expected later this year.
Economists warn that in a networked global economy tariffs work as supply shocks that raise input costs, push inflation beyond targeted sectors, reduce output and spread disruption through financial markets and currencies.
From late 2021 through 2025 major leading signals signaled recession while jobs, income and spending held up, suggesting pandemic, demographic and market changes have distorted decades-old forecasting tools.
Economists and Wall Street expect two quarter point cuts in 2026, leaving the federal funds rate near 3% through 2027 despite President Trump's calls for much deeper cuts.
Bullion surged to an intraday high of $5,187.37 as the dollar weakened and investors fled sovereign bonds and currencies.
The Conference Board index fell 9.7 points in January to 84.5 as both current conditions and short term expectations weakened across demographic groups.
Redfin says 16.3% of signed purchase agreements were canceled in December as high costs, rising inventory and economic uncertainty make buyers more selective.
CMS proposed a 0.09% net average payment increase for Medicare Advantage plans in 2027, well below analyst expectations, triggering sharp drops in major insurer stocks.
A new Ludwig Institute report says 25.2 percent of workers are jobless, underemployed or earning poverty-level wages, up from 24.8 percent in November, while the official unemployment rate is 4.4 percent.