The US tightened its grip on the title of world’s biggest economy in 2024 as an irrepressible American consumer helped it pull away from China for a third straight year — at least by one measure.

The Federal Reserve kicked off its second Trump era right where it left off: Doing exactly what it wanted to do, ignoring President Donald Trump’s demands that it lower rates.

The Federal Reserve is set to discuss interest rates this week, with no expected changes despite President Trump's calls for a rate cut. (Scripps News)

Donald Trump's rapid move to ban a "digital dollar" has left the field wide open, observers say, for China and Europe to make their already-advanced central bank digital currency (CBDC) prototypes into global standard-setters.

The Chinese currency jumped against the US dollar as trade war worries receded, but some fear the gains may be ‘short-lived’.

AUD/USD stays defensive near 0.6200 in the Asian session on Friday, hanging close to a nearly two-week low amid the latest tariff threat from US President Trump on Chinese imports. Further, increased bets for February RBA rate and China's economic woes remain a drag on the pair. US PCE eyed.

Asian shares wavered on Friday, weighed down by the return of tech-heavy South Korean stocks from holidays, but relatively strong earnings from U.S. tech giants kept risk sentiment intact while tariff threats pushed the dollar and gold prices higher.

Economists and analysts are getting excited about a rate cut but inflation risks, and lack of any credible economic agenda, will likely leave them disappointed.

Robert Armstrong Let’s play a game. The game is called the 2025 Financial Times stock picking contest.

The S&P 500 ( ^GSPC) gained 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ( ^DJI) rose nearly 0.4%. The tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ( ^IXIC) was up nearly 0.3%.

Thursday's coverage included more tech earnings, focus on Trump's latest on potential tariffs and more analysis around Monday's DeepSeek Dive.

US stocks struggled gained steam on Thursday afternoon as investors digested megacap tech earnings and waited for Apple (AAPL) results for more clues on prospects for Big Tech. After the Federal Reserve stood pat on interest rates as expected,