Town Hall News

By Alasdair Pal SYDNEY (Reuters) – Australia on Thursday released its review of the Reserve Bank of Australia, the first external review of the central bank and the operation of monetary policy in four decades. The report made 51 recommendations, including moving to a clearer monetary policy framework and greater accountability. Here are the key recommendations of the report: CLEARLY DEFINED OBJECTIVES “The RBA’s objectives for monetary policy should be […]

By Jennifer Rigby and Emma Farge LONDON (Reuters) – People all over the world lost confidence in the importance of routine childhood vaccines against killer diseases like measles and polio during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from UNICEF. In 52 of the 55 countries surveyed, the public perception of vaccines for children declined between 2019 and 2021, the UN agency said. The data was a “worrying warning […]

SYDNEY (Reuters) – An independent review of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has recommended creating a specialist board to manage monetary policy that would be chaired by the governor and have a dual mandate of price stability and full employment. The central bank should keep its flexible inflation target of 2-3% but aim to return inflation to the mid-point rather than average it over time. Importantly for market confidence, […]

PARIS (Reuters) – A free climber known as the “French Spiderman” scaled a 38-storey skyscraper in Paris on Wednesday to demonstrate his support for protesters angry about a pension law that will delay the age at which people can retire in France. Alain Robert, 60, climbs without a harness, using only his bare hands and a pair of climbing shoes. “I’m here to show my support for those who oppose […]

By Richard Cowan and Andy Sullivan WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Republican U.S. House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday unveiled a plan to raise the nation’s debt ceiling by $1.5 trillion and cut federal spending by three times that amount, laying out an opening position in what is likely to be a tense partisan debate over government borrowing. McCarthy’s proposal, which he unveiled on the floor of the House of Representatives, would cut […]

By Lewis Krauskopf, Sruthi Shankar and Ankika Biswas (Reuters) – The S&P 500 ended virtually unchanged on Wednesday while the Dow dipped as investors digested a mixed bag of corporate earnings, including upbeat reports from medical technology companies, countered by weakness in Netflix shares. The Dow was weighed down by declines in Walt Disney Co and UnitedHealth Group Inc shares following results from rivals in their respective industries. Major equity […]

By Michelle Nichols UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres will convene envoys on Afghanistan from various countries next month to work on a unified approach to dealing with the Taliban authorities, the United Nations said on Wednesday. The closed-door meeting in Doha on May 1-2 was announced after U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Amina Mohammed suggested on Monday the gathering “could find those baby steps to put us back on the […]

By Chavi Mehta (Reuters) -IBM Corp beat Wall Street expectations for first-quarter profit on Wednesday and signaled demand for IT services was better than feared, sending shares up 3.5% after the bell. The company’s software and consulting businesses rose 6% and 8.2%, respectively, at constant currency in the first quarter, in line with IBM’s targets. Big Blue also reiterated its full-year free cash flow forecast of $10.5 billion. “Investors blew […]

By Akash Sriram and Hyunjoo Jin (Reuters) – Tesla Inc on Wednesday posted its lowest quarterly gross margin in two years, missing market estimates as it grappled with aggressive price cuts meant to spur demand in a sagging economy and fend off rising competition. The electric-vehicle maker has slashed prices several times in the United States, China and other markets since late last year, as CEO Elon Musk said Tesla […]