WASHINGTON: Investors have locked onto the U.S. central bank’s Sept. 17-18 meeting for the start of interest rate cuts that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has said will represent a “consequential” change in policy from the pandemic-era battle against inflation to a phase of easing monetary policy. Where the process ends up is uncertain. Shifts … Read more
Buoyed by rate cut expectations after the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank (ECB) cut rates earlier this week, spot gold rose to $2,387 on Friday, the highest level since May 22. However, the metal crashed on a robust US nonfarm payroll report. Spot gold closed with a loss of 3.49% at $2,294 … Read more
SINGAPORE – Asian stocks fell and the dollar climbed to more than five-month highs on Tuesday as stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales for March further reinforced expectations that the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be in a rush to cut interest rates this year. Rising geopolitical tensions kept risk sentiment in check, lifting prices of gold … Read more
Traders spooked by Wednesday’s hotter-than-expected inflation print need not to worry, according to Jefferies’ David Zervos, who says risk assets can thrive with or without interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 Index dropped more than 1% Wednesday after the latest consumer price index topped economists’ forecasts, renewing concerns that the Fed … Read more
New York: US stocks fell Wednesday on worries that what seemed like a blip in the battle to bring down inflation is turning into a trend. The S&P 500 was 1.2% lower in a wipeout where nine out of 10 stocks in the index fell. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down 514 points, or … Read more
The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, but policymakers indicated they still expect to reduce them by three-quarters of a percentage point by the end of 2024 despite stodgier expected progress towards the U.S. central bank’s 2% inflation target. The Fed’s new policy statement described inflation as remaining “elevated,” and updated quarterly economic … Read more
Nomura on Friday forecast the U.S. Federal Reserve delivering a 100-basis-point interest rate cut in 2024 and reducing the pace of balance-sheet rundown in June, followed by an end to quantitative tightening in December. “We expect Friday’s PCE (personal consumption expenditures) report to show the 3m and 6m annualized pace of core PCE running below … Read more
“Overall, the big trigger will be the Fed rate cut which should happen by March, April and we will have to see the magnitude of that so the big defining trend for this year will be rate cuts across the world,” says Ajay Bagga, Chairman, Elyments Platforms 2024 is indeed going to be a crucial … Read more
