Alex Rankine

The US dollar could be set to weaken this year, while the euro, Canadian dollar and the Swiss franc could be good bets for optimistic traders.

Gold may be on a bull run, but industrial commodities, including copper, zinc and aluminium, remain cheap.

Analysts have been out in force making rosy predictions for stockmarkets in 2020, but while there is certainly a case for optimism, investors should r…

America’s assassination of a key figure in the Iranian regime has jolted bullish investors out of their complacency. Could we now be facing an oil spi…

American equities soared beyond expectations this year. Yet after a year of outsize returns, most expect a far more modest showing in 2020.

Sweden has ended its experiment with negative interest rates. The Sveriges Riksbank, the world’s oldest central bank, has raised the main interest rat…

This year saw a return to normal for emerging markets. It’s a far cry from 2018, which brought misery for those betting on the world’s fastest-growing…

Unless South Africa institutes economic reforms, including greater fiscal discipline, a clampdown on corruption, and easing labour laws, it risks losi…

Oil exporters’ cartel Opec gave further encouragement to the bulls this month after agreeing to new production curbs.

Chinese companies are defaulting on their debt in record numbers. And the trouble could spread to state-owned enterprises.

Interest-rate cuts in the US and renewed quantitative easing in Europe have driven rally in global equities, driving stocks ever higher.

Australia looks like it could be the next big economy to join the quantitative easing (QE) club.

With the MSCI World index up more than 21% and the FTSE All-World index loitering just shy of all-time high, markets are determined to end the year in…

2019 looks set to go down as the year in which the bond bubble yet again failed to burst

Japan's prime minister Shinzo Abe has announced a ¥13.2trn fiscal package to repair damage caused by October’s Typhoon, put new digital technology int…

Diamond miners are in dire straits. The $90bn market is being squeezed by demand and supply problems and faces a long-term threat from manufactured ge…

China's annual economic growth is forecast to dip below 6% in the final quarter of this year and continue to fall into 2020 thanks to weaker exports a…

The average price of a house in the UK rose by 0.8% on the year in November, the fastest pace since April.

This week the US president unleashed surprise tariffs on Brazilian and Argentine steel imports.

UK stocks could be in line for a bounce if the election result reduces political uncertainty.

The stars are aligning for a weaker US dollar, which would be good news for the world economy.

Global growth, and hence demand for oil, could surprise on the upside next year, leading to a bounce in the oil price.

Cannabis stocks were white-hot last year. But many North American pot firms have now lost two-thirds of their value.

After "inverting" and sparking talk of impending recession earlier this year, the yield curve on US government debt has returned to a more normal patt…

It's quite possible that the country that matters most to the global economy is not China or the United States, but Germany.

The protests in Hong Kong caused the territory to plunge into recession in the third quarter, and has also begun to weigh on local markets. But invest…

China’s yuan pushed through the symbolically important seven-to-the-dollar mark for the first time since August last week. Will its strength continue?

Spain's new government could do a deal with the country's populist parties, leading to a fiscally irresponsible spending splurge, just like Italy.

America’s housing market keeps humming along, supported by Trump's aversion for high interest rates.

Despite the lack of any resolution to the US-China trade dispute, markets have suddenly decided that it is time to be bullish.

British startups are abandoning public stockmarkets and turning to deep-pocketed Silicon Valley venture capitalists for their investment needs.

Bankers and investors are worried that an unprecedented hurricane in the form of Jeremy Corbyn could be hurtling their way on 12 December.

The US Federal Reserve delivered America's third, and probably final, interest rate cut of the year last week.

Brazil has finally completed a long-awaited overhaul of its pension system.

Emerging markets are being squeezed by local turmoil and by more general factors. But bad news can spell opportunity for investors.

Mario Draghi may have rescued the euro in its darkest hour, but failed in his only official mission of keeping inflation within its target range.