WSJ Economy

The Bank of Canada left its policy rate unchanged at 2.25%, and warned of painful economic repercussions from a prolonged and wider war in the Middle East.

Wholesale inflation hit the highest rate in a year last month, adding evidence that stubborn price increases persisted in the economy even before the Iran war began.

As many as three governors are candidates to dissent at this week’s meeting, an unusual break that offers a glimpse of the fracture Kevin Warsh stands to inherit.

The Nobel laureate’s work transformed how central banks understand cause and effect in the economy.

Economists expect the central bank to hold its policy rate steady as the war in the Middle East threatens to lift inflation expectations.

The pending home sales index, a leading indicator of house sales based on contract signings, rose 1.8% on month to 72.1. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had forecast a 0.6% decline.

The bank published a report in 1993 which helped disparage industrial policy. Governments were instead encouraged to let markets operate without direction or barriers.

Confidence among investors fell sharply this month as the conflict in the Middle East continued and energy prices surged.

President Trump has demanded that Fed Chair Jerome Powell cut rates. But it isn’t the Fed chair alone who sets them. Here is who does.

China’s economy got off to a solid start this year but that momentum may prove hard to sustain as the world’s largest oil importer navigates the conflict in the Middle East and continued pressures at home.

Indonesia’s central bank kept interest rates unchanged Tuesday, a widely expected move as the conflict in the Middle East raises risks for the economy.

The Reserve Bank of Australia increased the official cash rate to 4.10% as the conflict in Iran worsened existing concerns around an acceleration in inflation.

A series of supply setbacks has kept prices above target for five years. Now officials have to put a number on what that means for interest rates.

U.S. stocks rose as efforts to restore the flow of oil through the Persian Gulf intensified.

Inflation in Canada cooled to a nine-month low in February and core price pressures continued to ease, leaving central bank policymakers under no pressure to act this week.

The NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index rose to 38 in March, but builders continued to express concerns due to elevated costs and shortages of buildable lots and labor.

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said that its statewide manufacturing index of business conditions weakened unexpectedly in March to minus 0.2 from 7.1 in February.

Central bankers are in a familiar but uncomfortable position: waiting for the fog of war to clear a little before picking a safe path forward.

With the conflict in Iran rattling financial markets and oil prices, the Bank of Japan finds itself in a familiar dilemma, weighing a policy pause against the continued push for rate hikes.

The Reserve Bank of Australia is likely to raise interest rates this week to combat a worsening inflation outlook.