U.S. Stock Futures Decline Amid China Rate Concerns

Higher-than-estimated inflation in China spurred speculation the nation will be forced to raise interest rates

Higher-than-estimated inflation in China spurred speculation the nation will be forced to raise interest rates

The announcement raised the possibility that Beijing might need to hike interest rates and slow the country’s economic recovery.

New Zealand’s central bank said it will wait until the middle of the year before raising interest rates as falling house prices and weak consumer spending are contributing to a slow economic recovery. The currency fell

Jeremy Siegel, a finance professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, says the worst is over for the U.S. economy and the Federal Reserve may raise interest rates by year’s end to cool growth.

The Fed’s pledge to keep interest rates close to zero for an “extended period” has come under criticism from policy makers

The Federal Reserve has ended nearly all of the lending programs it created in 2007 to combat the credit crisis, but in the coming months it must decide when and how to tighten monetary policy.

Hedge funds returned 0.5 percent in February, led by North American managers, as global stock markets rose on signs of recovery in corporate earnings and U.S. interest rates are likely to remain low, Eurekahedge Pte said

The Philippines will consider unwinding some of its stimulus measures even as it may keep interest rates unchanged to support the economic recovery, central bank Deputy Governor Diwa Guinigundo said.

Both the European Central Bank and the Bank of England remained concerned about the strength of the economic recovery.

The bank raised its key lending rate from 2 percent to 2.25 percent, saying the economy was on a “path to recovery.”