U.S. president Joe Biden has reached a preliminary agreement with a group of Democratic and Republican senators on a $579 billion infrastructure spending plan, saying it will create millions of jobs and achieve a crucial part of Biden's economic agenda. Biden said at the White House that the group of senators "have reached an agreement to create millions of jobs and modernize America's infrastructure." Senators have been negotiating with each other and with the White House for weeks. 

Us orders for durable goods rose the most since January in May, thanks to a sharp increase in orders for aircraft and cars. Durable goods orders rose 2.3% in May from a month earlier, after a revised 0.8% decline in April, according to data from the Ministry of Commerce on Thursday. Orders excluding transportation equipment increased by 0.3%. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a median increase of 2.8% for durable goods orders. Indicators of business investment have slowed under strong headline data, indicating a pause in a broader rebound in recent months.

Initial jobless claims fell slightly last week, resuming the previous downward trend and reflecting an improvement in the economy. Initial jobless claims under states' regular unemployment benefit programs fell by 7000 to 411000 in the week ended June 19, according to data released by the Labor Department on Thursday. Previously, the median forecast for economists surveyed by Bloomberg was 380000. The previous week's figure was revised upwards to 418000. The US merchandise trade deficit widened in May and imports approached record highs: 

The US merchandise trade deficit widened more than expected in May, with imports rising near record highs and exports falling. The trade deficit widened to $88.1 billion from a revised $85.7 billion in April, according to data released by the Commerce Department on Thursday. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg forecast a median deficit of $87.5 billion. Imports rose 0.8 per cent to $232.4 billion, while exports fell 0.3 per cent to $144.3 billion. Imports of consumer goods climbed to $63.8 billion.

James Bullard, president of the St. Louis Fed, said that while central bankers wanted inflation to exceed 2 per cent to make up for past deficiencies, there was a risk that prices would rise too much. "the new risk is that inflation may unexpectedly rise further as the reopening process continues, beyond the level necessary to simply make up for past deficiencies," Bullard said in a speech at the Clayton Chamber of Commerce. 

"I don't think the housing market needs the support of the Fed's asset purchases at the moment," said Robert Kaplan, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. The Fed's monthly purchase of $40 billion of mortgage-backed securities, (MBS), is similar to monthly new issuance on the institutional MBS market, Kaplan said. Seeing a strong rise in house prices, investors bought furnished houses for rent.

Wall Street banks are set to announce large increases in dividends and share buybacks as Fed stress tests show that the industry accumulated large amounts of cash during the COVID-19 epidemic. Banks can announce their capital allocation plans after the market closes on June 28, and the sector's strong performance means the return of capital is likely to be the largest ever since the Fed's annual stress tests. Early estimates show that six major U.S. banks, including JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America and Citigroup, can return more than $140 billion to shareholders. 

The Bank of England raised its inflation forecast, but officials insisted that the price surge would be temporary and decided to keep the policy stimulus measures unchanged with only one dissenting vote. As energy and commodity prices soar, the Bank of England expects consumer prices to rise 3 per cent, half a percentage point higher than its forecast six weeks ago. The bank expects these effects to dissipate after that, giving policymakers room to keep the pace of stimulus unchanged.

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