Is inflation going to speed up again? Are businesses going to stop hiring? Are people going to cut spending? So many questions for Federal Reserve officials, but so few answers ahead of their meeting this week.

As the metal gangway lowers down, the crew gets to work securing the ship to the dockside – their bright orange jumpsuits dwarfed by the vast pink container ship behind them.

Consumers are making spending decisions in a haze of uncertainty about whether higher prices are the result of tariffs, inflation or companies’ push for more profits.

The Stoxx Europe 600 was down 0.9% in early trading but that was the only drama on global asset markets so far today. The VIX volatility index is in retreat after the S&P 500 put in a solid performance yesterday. S&P 500 futures were off only 0.7% this morning, premarket.

In the days before President Donald Trump suddenly paused most of the punishing tariffs on foreign countries he had revealed in early April, more than a dozen congressional lawmakers were tied to thousands of dollars’ worth of stock transactions,

Donald Trump has said the US and China’s deal to restore their trade war truce is “done” after two days of marathon negotiations in London. In a post on his Truth Social network on Wednesday the US president hailed a breakthrough reached in bilateral talks in London late the night before.

Shipping companies rerouted their ships from China when tariffs were over 100%, and now it will take a while to get them back down.

The U.S.-China talks on trade resemble arms-control negotiations, with export controls the key weapons. As part of a monthslong feud, the two sides choked off the supply of such exports as rare earths or semiconductor technology in a bid to gain an edge.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Coercive trade policies fail to resolve financial imbalances and the risk of mutual economic damage is so great that all sides need to weigh policy adjustments to resolve tensions, European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde said on Wednesday.

The leaders of Britain and the United States had announced a deal last month, but it had not been clear when their agreement would go into effect. Britain hailed the announcement as “a huge win.”