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Powell rebuffs notion that tariffs weighed on calculations for fewer cuts, but a showdown may be looming.

Volkswagen AG and labor leaders are moving closer to an agreement to restructure the automaker’s namesake brand without shuttering factories in Germany, according to people familiar with the matter.

The Federal Reserve jarred US markets Wednesday, pushing stocks lower and sending Treasury yields soaring, after forecasting fewer interest rate cuts next year. It was the worst loss for the S&P 500 on the day of a rate decision since 2001.

European stocks mirrored losses in Asia and the US session after a hawkish pivot by the Federal Reserve jolted markets. The yen slid as the Bank of Japan left borrowing costs unchanged.

​​Catch up: Markets fall after Fed’s hawkish remarks; Syria’s new leader speaks

US producers of a crucial material used in electric vehicle batteries have initiated a trade action seeking sharp tariff increases on Chinese graphite, arguing that Beijing’s massive state subsidies are artificially lowering prices and making it impossible for their companies to compete.

Predictions of declining demand for the world’s most polluting fossil fuel are premature.

The European Union and South American nations have spent more than a quarter of a century trying to strike a deal on free trade. The negotiations took on new urgency this year as a looming trade war between the world’s biggest trading partners — the US and China — spurred other regions to seek out new commercial partnerships to soften the blow.

Home builders’ outlook for the next six months rose to the highest in more than 2 1/2 years on optimism that the upcoming Trump administration will help remove construction regulatory hurdles and boost sales.

The industry has long postponed recognition of falling property values. The bill is coming due. Plus: a Seussian glossary.

The Federal Reserve did what markets expected Wednesday. But that didn’t stop investors from dumping risk assets in droves.

Federal Reserve officials are likely to lower borrowing costs for a third-straight meeting this week while also signaling fewer interest-rate cuts next year than previously projected.

Bond traders have been boosting options and futures wagers that the Federal Reserve is about to signal deeper interest-rate cuts next year than the market anticipates.

As the world’s climate becomes increasingly volatile, businesses that depend on predictable weather are turning to financial products that compensate them when there’s a heat wave, a drought or an unusually persistent bout of rain.

Weeks before Donald Trump returns to the White House, China’s factories are expanding production abroad and growing their customer base outside the US as they gird for new levies from the self-proclaimed “tariff man.”

China suffered the biggest outflow on record from its financial markets last month as the prospect of higher US tariffs posed more risks for the world’s second-largest economy.

A key measure of CEO confidence in China signaled pessimism for the first time since the pandemic even after the nation unleashed a raft of stimulus measures.

European Central Bank interest rates will continue to head lower as inflation starts to stabilize around the 2% goal, according to its Governing Council member Olli Rehn.

Argentina emerged from a brutal recession in the third quarter, boosting the odds that President Javier Milei heads into next year’s mid-term elections with growth on the rebound alongside cooling inflation.

Eastern Europe is sidestepping a wave of monetary easing that’s spreading across major economies in anticipation of potential turmoil as Donald Trump returns to the White House.

Germany will reduce federal debt sales by 13% next year as the government scales back despite a sputtering economy and pressure to support Ukraine’s defense against Russia.

German business expectations sank in December, highlighting the challenges for Europe’s top economy with snap elections likely to bring a change of government.

Treasury 10-year yields may climb to 6% for the first time in more than two decades as US fiscal woes worsen and Donald Trump’s policies help keep inflation elevated, according to T. Rowe Price.

From AstraZeneca to Vodacom, keep an eye on these global stocks this year.

Trump’s choice to run US government finance was part of the Soros team that crashed the pound. His new reality is more complex than any exchange-rate wager.

Chinese leaders plan to set an annual growth goal of about 5% for next year and raise the budget deficit to 4% of gross domestic product, Reuters reported, citing two people it didn’t identify.

President-elect Donald Trump and SoftBank Group CEO Masayoshi Son announced Monday morning at Mar-a-Lago that the company is expected to invest $100 billion in US projects over the next four years with a goal of creating 100,000 new jobs, according to two people familiar with the announcement.