Persistently high inflation may necessitate the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to extend its round of interest rate hikes, according to recent data. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ report revealed that annual headline inflation fell slightly from June’s 6% to September’s 5.4%, surpassing economists’ expectations and posing a challenge in…

The numbers: Sales of newly built homes in the U.S. surged in September as aspiring homeowners, unable to find inventory in resale homes, turned to homebuilders. U.S. new-home sales rose 12.3% to an annual rate of 759,000 in September, from a revised 676,000 in the prior month, the Commerce Department…

In response to strong inflation figures, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is preparing for a 25 basis points increase in the cash rate to 4.35% at the upcoming November board meeting. The decision comes as the headline Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Q3 2023 recorded a growth of 1.2%,…

From inside the second gathering of the U.S. Senate’s forum on artificial intelligence on Tuesday, one of its participants left “encouraged.” Evan Smith, chief executive of Altana Technologies, one of about 20 technology leaders, venture capitalists, academics and privacy experts in attendance for the three-and-a-half-hour summit, characterized the bipartisan AI…

By Twinnie Siu and Clare Jim HONG KONG (Reuters) -Buffeted by years of upheaval and China’s economic slowdown, Hong Kong’s leader on Wednesday outlined his annual policy vision focused on kick-starting the ailing property market while further tightening national security laws. The policy blueprint, the second delivered by Chief Executive…

By Takaya Yamaguchi and Yoshifumi Takemoto TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan’s government is considering spending around $33 billion for payouts to low-income households and an income tax cut in a package of measures to cushion the blow to households from rising living costs, three government officials told Reuters on Wednesday. The spending,…

The numbers: U.S. mortgage rates rose for the seventh week in a row, with the 30-year mortgage rate inching even closer to 8%. A jump in rates by 20 basis points caused mortgage demand to fall to the lowest level since 1995. More home buyers are turning to adjustable-rate mortgages,…

By Stella Qiu SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian inflation was surprisingly strong in the third quarter amid broad-based and stubborn cost pressures, a headache for policymakers that added greatly to the risk of a rise in interest rates as early as next month. Investors reacted by narrowing the odds on the Reserve…

The Florida-based Christian university, also known as PBAU, says it “equips students to grow in wisdom, lead with conviction and serve God boldly.” But English professor Sam Joeckel appears to have run afoul of those principles, at least as far as the school’s administrators are concerned.  On March 15, after…

By Yuvraj Malik, Stephen Nellis and Anna Tong (Reuters) -Microsoft on Tuesday beat Wall Street estimates for fiscal first-quarter results in all segments, with its cloud computing and PC businesses growing as customers anticipate using its artificial-intelligence offerings. Its forecast also was mostly ahead of analyst targets. Microsoft (NASDAQ:), which…