Investing.com – The EU countries supported the response plan to the actions of the United States, which from June 1 introduced duties on the import of steel and aluminum from the EU in the amount of 25% and 10% respectively.

Representatives of the EU member states at a meeting in Brussels on Thursday agreed to impose a 25 percent duty on the goods of American exports totaling 2.8 billion euros, reports Bloomberg.

Among the goods that will be subject to a new duty are motorcycles Harley Davidson, jeans Levi Strauss and bourbon.

In general, the list of products includes several dozen items, including agricultural products (corn, rice, cranberries), food products (orange juice, peanut butter and tobacco products), cosmetics, clothing, metallurgical products, boats, yachts, and so on.

The entry into force of the decision on the introduction of the response fees requires the approval of the European Commission. The EC plans to approve the decision in the coming days, and it is expected that it will enter into force on June 20.

The European Commission said earlier that it intends to respond by proportional measures to the announced US introduction of duties on imports of steel and aluminum from the EU. In addition, the regulator filed a lawsuit on June 1 with the World Trade Organization (WTO) regarding US actions.

Investing.com – The report on Thursday showed that retail sales in the US in May rose for the third month in a row, boosting optimism about the US economy and supporting the US central bank’s intention to increase the number of interest rate increases this year.

According to the report of the US Department of Commerce, in comparison with the previous month, the volume of retail sales in the US in May rose by 0.8%, which was significantly higher than the forecasted growth rate of 0.4%.

The growth in retail sales for April was revised upwards to 0.4% compared to the initial growth of 0.3%.

The increase in retail sales indicates economic growth, and a decline in economic decline.

The base retail sales index (excluding car sales) increased by 0.9% in May against the projected growth of 0.5%. In April, the base retail sales index increased by 0.4%.

The basic index of retail sales corresponds to the component of consumer spending in the calculation of gross domestic product. Consumer spending accounts for 70% of US economic growth.

(Reuters) – The European Central Bank on Thursday announced that it will curtail the asset purchase program from the end of December 2018, and rates will remain at current levels at least until the fall of 2019.

The ECB said that by the end of September 2018, asset purchases will continue at a volume of 30 billion euros per month, and from the end of September to the end of December 2018, its monthly volume will be 15 billion euros, after which the program will be completed.

Following the meeting, the regulator left the overnight deposit rate at minus 0.40 percent per annum. The main refinancing rate, which determines the cost of lending in the economy, remained at the level of 0.0 percent, the rate of emergency lending for banks was 0.25 percent.

The Governing Council of the ECB expects that key rates will remain at current levels at least until the end of summer 2019 and in any case as long as the inflation dynamics will continue to meet the current expectations of its steady adjustment.

According to the ECB, the decisions taken at the meeting will allow further movement of inflation to levels below, but close to 2 percent in the medium term.

(Francesco Kanepa, Balash Koranyi, translation and text of Marina Bobrova, editor Anton Kolodyazhny)

Investing.com – The overwhelming majority of experts believe that the Federal Reserve System (FRS) will raise the interest rate on federal funds (federal funds rate) following a two-day meeting, which ends on Wednesday.

The market estimates the chances of raising the rate at the June meeting to 1.75-2% per annum from the current 1.5-1.75% in more than 90%, according to the CME Group.

All  37 economists, who participated in the survey conducted by the agency Bloomberg, are waiting for  rates increasing.

At the same time, the share of respondents expecting at least three more increases in 2018, slightly decreased compared to March. The median estimate of economists now implies two more increases this year, which coincides with the Fed’s own forecasts, also published in March.

“GDP growth rates in the second quarter may be 4%, but before that there was a very weak first quarter,” says chief economist Loomis Sayles & Co. Brian Horrigan. According to him, fears over trade disputes, steadily sluggish inflation, strengthening the dollar and tensions in emerging markets can also deter the Fed from a more aggressive reaction.

In addition, after the meeting, representatives of the US central bank will publish new quarterly macroeconomic forecasts and an updated forecast for the further interest rate trajectory. Then Chairman of the Federal Reserve Service Jerome Powell will start his second press conference after taking office in February.

Many experts expect that the Central Bank’s management will improve forecasts of consumer price growth, as well as the economy as a whole, and may increase the forecast of the number of rate increases in 2018 to four (including March and June) against the backdrop of accelerating inflation and an active rise in the labor market. Point charts of forecasts (dot plots), published by the Fed in March, indicated that the Fed proposes to raise the rate three times in 2018.

The Fed in late 2015 raised the base interest rate for the first time in almost 10 years, in 2016 the rate was raised once (by 25 basis points), in 2017 – three times by the same amount. In March 2018, the rate was raised again.