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☆ Don't sweat the prospect of no Fed rate cuts, economist says — markets will still march higher
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-28 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Federal Reserve Bank Chair Jerome Powell speaks during a news conference at the bank's William McChesney Martin building on March 20, 2024 in Washington, DC. His comments come as investors await the release of further U.S. economic data and closely monitor clues from Fed officials about the expected number of interest rate cuts in 2024. Asked on Thursday about the likelihood of one or no Fed interest rate cuts this year, Blitz said that it's "getting pretty good. Blitz said markets will likely continue to march higher, even if the Fed decides not to impose any interest rate cuts this year — a prospect that U.S. asset manager Vanguard named as their base-case scenario. Christopher Waller, governor of the US Federal Reserve, during a Fed Listens event in Washington, DC, US, on Friday, March 22, 2024.

Persons: Jerome Powell, William McChesney Martin, Chip Somodevilla, Steven Blitz, Blitz, They're, CNBC's, it's, Christopher Waller, Waller, Raphael Bostic, Jerome, Powell Organizations: Bank, Getty, Federal Reserve, TS Lombard, Traders, Fed, Vanguard, Economic, of New, Atlanta Federal Reserve, US Federal Reserve, Bloomberg Locations: Washington ,, U.S, of New York, Atlanta, Washington , DC

☆ Dollar steady as traders ponder Fed rate cut bets; yen shaky at 150 per dollar
▼ + stars: | 2024-03-01 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

The dollar was steady on Friday after data showed U.S. inflation remained sticky but easing gradually, keeping alive the chance of the Federal Reserve cutting rates in June, while the yen slid back to the key 150 per dollar level. The data showed U.S. prices picked up in January in line with expectations, while annual inflation slipped to the lowest in three years. Takata's comments stoked expectations that the central bank could end negative rates in March rather than the widely held view of a move in April. The contrasting comments are likely to keep investors guessing about the next move from the central bank. The Australian dollar rose 0.08% to $0.65025, while the New Zealand dollar was little changed at $0.6088.

Persons: Raphael Bostic, Hajime Takata, Kazuo Ueda Organizations: Federal Reserve, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Traders, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, Bank of Japan, New Zealand Locations: United States, U.S, Atlanta

Consumer prices rose 0.4% in September, more than economists had expected, as rising costs for shelter drove the increase, the Labor Department reported on Thursday. On an annual basis, the consumer price index was unchanged for the month, at 3.7%. The core CPI, leaving out energy and food costs, rose 0.3%, while the yearly rate dropped to 4.1% from 4.3% previously. The CPI release follows Wednesday’s producer price index that rose more than expected, at 0.5% for the month, and 2.2% for the year. But, over the last 12 months, consumer inflation has fallen from an 8.2% pace – although it remains well above the 2% annual goal set by the Federal Reserve.

Persons: ” Johan Grahn Organizations: Labor Department, Federal Reserve, Allianz Investment Management, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank

☆ Europe stocks mixed after best day in 11 months with eyes on U.S. inflation; LVMH down 7%
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-11 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

European stock markets were mixed Wednesday lower after clocking their best one-day performance in nearly a year. The Stoxx 600 was index was 0.19% higher at 8:50 a.m. London time, reversing earlier slight losses. European marketsThe Stoxx gained nearly 2% on Tuesday, according to LSEG data, its strongest session since Nov. 10, 2022. Bullish global trading was boosted by two Federal Reserve officials who suggested Monday that the recent rise in Treasury yields may reduce the need to raise the Federal Funds rate, paring back peak rate expectations. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic on Tuesday said rates did not need to rise any further.

Persons: Raphael Bostic Organizations: Federal, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank Locations: London

REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsOct 10 (Reuters) - Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic on Tuesday said the U.S. central bank need not raise borrowing costs any further, and sees no recession ahead even as the Fed's rate hikes so far slow the economy and bring down inflation. "I actually don't think we need to increase rates anymore" to get too-high inflation back down to the Fed's 2% goal, Bostic told the American Bankers Association, to applause. Policy is sufficiently restrictive, and "a lot" of the impact of the Fed's rate hikes so far is clearly yet to come, he said. The conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas which broke out over the weekend creates uncertainty for the United States and the global economy, Bostic said, noting that it will cause rethinking on markets and investments. If data comes in differently from what he expects, Bostic said "we might have to increase (the Fed policy rate), but that's not my outlook right now, and that's not my expectation."

Persons: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta Raphael, Bostic, Clodagh, Raphael Bostic, that's, Ann Saphir, Emelia Sithole Organizations: Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, REUTERS, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, American Bankers Association, Palestinian, Hamas, Thomson Locations: Dublin, Ireland, U.S, Israel, United States, Ukraine

☆ Fed's Bostic says U.S. interest rates are high enough
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

U.S. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic speaks to reporters at the National Association of Business Economics' annual policy meeting in Washington, U.S. March 21, 2022. "I feel policy is appropriately restrictive," Bostic said in remarks prepared for delivery to the South African Reserve Bank Biennial Conference in Cape Town, South Africa. "We should be cautious and patient and let the restrictive policy continue to influence the economy, lest we risk tightening too much and inflicting unnecessary economic pain." U.S. central bankers are widely expected to leave the Fed's policy rate in the current range of 5.25%-5.5% when they next meet in a little less than three weeks. Bostic has been in the minority at the Fed, cautioning against over-tightening policy and needlessly hurting jobs and livelihoods.

Persons: Raphael Bostic, Ann Saphir, Bostic, Bostic's, Richard Chang Organizations: Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, National Association of Business Economics, REUTERS, South African Reserve Bank Biennial, U.S, Thomson Locations: Washington , U.S, Cape Town , South Africa, U.S

☆ Companies like Goldman Sachs may want workers back in the office full-time, but most US execs think hybrid working is here to stay, study finds
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-31 | by ( Beatrice Nolan | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Most US executives don't expect a return to pre-pandemic office life, a study has found. Instead, they expect the number of hybrid and remote workers to increase. The study also found execs expected the number of fully in-person workers to continue to decrease. Despite the rise in return-to-office mandates, one study has found that most US executives expect remote and hybrid work to continue to grow. Instead, execs predicted the number of hybrid workers in their firm would increase by 2.2% over the next five years and the number of fully remote workers to increase by 1%.

Persons: Goldman Sachs, It's, execs Organizations: Service, JPMorgan, Tech, Meta, Google, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, University of Chicago Locations: Wall, Silicon, Stanford

☆ The earnings and economic data shows the consumer is still in control of the economy
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-23 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +9 min

Moody's says that consumer savings rates are rising after bottoming out in June 2022. "We still see it as a normalization, not a deterioration story when we talk about consumer credit.'' But consumer loan delinquency rates are at 2019 levels, and below any level ever seen before 2014, according to Federal Reserve data. At JPMorgan, mortgage credit quality is so solid that the bank reported no net chargeoffs in the second quarter. Overall, the Bureau of Economic Analysis says consumer spending on new vehicles rose $40 billion to $642.4 billion in the first half of the year, with most gains coming in the second quarter.

Persons: Brandon Bell, Arun Sundaram, haven't, Alastair Borthwick, Moody's, Scott Hoyt, Jeremy Barnum, it's, Barnum, David Fieldhouse, Hoyt, Sundaram, Horton, Goldman Sachs, Goldman Organizations: Chevrolet, Knapp, Getty, Amazon, Walmart, Home Depot, Bank of America, CFRA, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Federal Reserve, JPMorgan, Federal, Wall, General Motors, GM, Ford, U.S, Toll, Pride Locations: Houston , Texas

☆ The mortgage market isn't sending the signal homebuyers need on affordability
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-17 | by ( Tim Mullaney | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +6 min

Usually around 1.75 percentage points, and as low as 1.3 in 2021, the so-called mortgage spread is hovering at more than 3 percentage points now. And that is propping up mortgage rates, keeping home owners from selling their homes and buying nicer ones, and hurting first-time buyers, Yun said. Why mortgage spreads should move lowerLogically, mortgage spreads should move down sharply from here, thanks to the recent spate of good economic news, and bring relief to home buyers who have seen affordability deteriorate sharply since 2020. But as the Fed began raising interest rates in March 2022, mortgage rates rose even faster than bond yields. Mortgage rates also dropped, to 6.89% last Friday from a recent peak of 7.22%, according to Mortgage News Daily.

Persons: Lawrence Yun, Yun, Logan Mohtashami, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Rob Haworth, Banks, refinance, Haworth, Neel Kashkari Organizations: National Association of Realtors, Federal Reserve, Fed, Bank, Atlanta Federal Reserve, Mortgage News, HousingWire, Treasury, U.S . Bank, Minneapolis Federal Reserve Bank Locations: Stockton , California, treasuries, Silicon, U.S, Irvine , Calif, Seattle

☆ Dollar gains on resilient U.S. economy, flight to safety
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

"If you consider global data of late, it's painting a more resilient picture of the U.S. economy than what's going on in Europe," he said. The dollar index , which tracks the U.S. currency against six major peers, hit 103.91, its highest since March 20. "The U.S. dollar has been rallying more or less for three weeks helped by stronger-than-expected data and rising U.S. interest rates," he said. The Swedish currency hit 11.541 crowns per euro, its weakest against the common currency since March 2009. The dollar strengthened 0.82% against the crown , while the New Zealand dollar slid 2.29% against the U.S. currency to 0.61050.

Persons: Joe Manimbo, Manimbo, Marc Chandler, Chandler, We're, Simon Harvey Organizations: Reserve, Bannockburn Global, U.S, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank, European Central Bank, New, New Zealand, Bank, England, Bank of England Locations: Washington, U.S, Europe, Bannockburn, New York

☆ Morning Bid: Powell's state of the union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

Jerome Powell makes his first speech since the Fed's latest quarter-point interest rate rise last week. More importantly, it's his first chance to comment on Friday's seemingly blockbuster U.S. employment report for January. Perhaps just as significantly, they now price year-end Fed rates higher than the 4.5-4.75% range they are at right now. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic on Monday said of the jobs readout: "It'll probably mean we have to do a little more work." Investors will watch Biden's State of the Union with one eye on the potentially destabilising debt ceiling standoff with Congress.

☆ Fed may need to push rates higher, Bostic tells Bloomberg
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve may need to lift borrowing costs higher than previously anticipated given the unexpectedly strong reading on jobs gains in January, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic said on Monday. Unless the report proves to be anomalous, “It’ll probably mean we have to do a little more work,” Bostic told Bloomberg News. “And I would expect that that would translate into us raising interest rates more than I have projected right now.”The Fed could also consider raising the rate by half-a-percentage-point, he told Bloomberg News, though that is not his base case. Bostic had previously said he expects the Fed to need to push its benchmark rate, now in the 4.5%-to-4.75% range, to the 5%-to-5.25% range in order to get policy sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation back down to the Fed's 2% target. Reporting by Ann Saphir in Berkeley, Calif.; Editing by Leslie Adler and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Government bonds, which typically perform well when there is a dash for safe havens, sold off under intense pressure. The dollar rose to an almost one-month high of 132.85 yen while the euro fell 0.64% to $1.0726. Chinese equities fell on Monday, while the offshore yuan touched a one-month low against the dollar. European Central Bank and Bank of England policymakers will also be making appearances. Gold edged higher, with investors banking on the precious metal's safe-haven appeal as concerns about an economic slowdown linger.

REUTERS/Charles PlatiauCHICAGO/DETROIT, Jan 31 (Reuters) - The companies that produce goods at the heart of the U.S. consumer economy - SUVs, washing machines, heavy equipment and hamburgers - kept rolling along at the end of 2022. Bellwethers including McDonald's (MCD.N), General Motors, Exxon Mobil (XOM.N), appliance maker Whirlpool (WHR.N) and delivery giant United Parcel Service (UPS.N), posted results that exceeded estimates. That's a good sign for the broader economy, according to Lori Calvasina, equity analyst at RBC Capital Markets. The economy's performance may depend on whether price pressures that have afflicted consumer and business spending start to wane. "As we go into 2023, there is going to continue to be inflation," said Christopher Kempczinski, McDonald's CEO, on the company's earnings call Tuesday.

☆ Gold set for weekly gain on smaller U.S. rate-hike bets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( Ashitha Shivaprasad | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Spot gold was up 0.1% at $1,898.57 per ounce, as of 0234 GMT. But we see gold continuing to rise despite cooling inflation because the market is looking at a lower dollar and smaller interest rate hikes," said Edward Meir, metals analyst, Marex. Gold is seen as an inflation hedge, but higher interest rates increase the opportunity cost of holding the asset. Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank president Raphael Bostic said the inflation data may allow the Fed to scale back to quarter-point rate hikes at its upcoming meeting. Spot silver edged 0.1% higher to $23.79, platinum gained 0.1% to $1,068.79 while palladium slipped 0.6% to $1,780.91.

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