THERE are 10 economic and market indicators to gauge whether the US economy is headed towards a recession, and it appears that an increasing number of data points are drifting into neutral or negative territory.
Several research houses maintained their trade forecast for 2023 despite weaker than expected data on external trade released by the Department of Statistics on Monday (Feb 20). Year-on-year (y-o-y), DOSM reported exports had increased 1.6% or RM112.8 billion and imports went up 2.3% to RM96.7 billion in 2022, making total trade of RM207.5 billion with a trade balance of RM18.2 billion.
EXPORTS expanded strongly in June, growing by 38.8% year-on-year (y-o-y), but palm oil exports could face stiffer competition from Indonesia and oil and gas shipments could moderate on softening energy prices.
THE US Federal Reserve’s (Fed) aggressive interest rate hike may have brought some certainty regarding its inflation control, but has also thrown up challenges to strike a fine balance and avoid a hard landing.