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
NEW YORK: U.S. stocks fell on Friday, led by technology-related megacaps that have propelled this year’s rally, while investors weighed the interest rate outlook ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. Traders have reined in bets of a June rate cut by the Fed after this week’s hotter-than-expected inflation data. Shares of Adobe dropped 13.7%, … Read more
A recent pickup in inflation isn’t likely to shift Federal Reserve policymakers’ forecasts for three interest-rate cuts this year and four in 2025, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. The Federal Open Market Committee will keep rates steady in the 5.25% to 5.5% range for a fifth consecutive meeting next week, with policymakers reducing … Read more
Washington: The speed at which US inflation is easing means it will likely be appropriate for the Federal Reserve to start cutting interest rates over the summer, a senior Fed official said Thursday. The US central bank recently pencilled in three interest rate cuts this year, but did not say when it would begin reducing … Read more
U.S. stocks ended with modest losses on Monday, as the focus shifted after last week’s AI-fueled rally to upcoming economic data that could affect the timing of the Federal Reserve’s expected interest rate cut. The release of January’s personal consumption expenditures price index (PCE)- the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge – on Thursday could dampen the … Read more
Major technology companies have cut thousands of jobs since the start of 2024 as the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) and interest rates upend the tech sector. While the U.S. job market remains remarkably strong on the whole, tech companies have cut nearly 40,000 jobs in the first two months of 2024, according to Layoffs.fyi. … Read more
Underlying US inflation probably rose in January by the most in a year, as tracked by the Federal Reserve’s preferred metric, highlighting the long and bumpy path to taming price pressures. The core personal consumption expenditures price index, which excludes food and energy costs, is seen rising 0.4% from a month earlier. That would mark … Read more
New York Federal Reserve President John Williams sees the U.S. central bank on track to cut interest rates “later this year,” despite stronger-than-expected inflation and labor market data in January, according to an interview with Axios. “My overall view of the economy basically hasn’t changed based on one month of data,” Williams said in an … Read more
Gold prices struggled for a clear direction on Wednesday, as traders awaited comments from a slew of Federal Reserve officials this week to assess how soon the U.S. central bank may start cutting interest rates. FUNDAMENTALS * Spot gold held its ground at $2,035.12 per ounce, as of 0131 GMT, after rising more than 0.5% … Read more
U.S. stocks ended sharply higher on Friday and the S&P 500 registered an all-time closing high as strong earnings and a blowout January employment report boosted confidence in the economy, even while lowering the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates any time soon. The rally capped a tumultuous week filled with high … Read more
