US ISM Rpt Shows a Greater-Than-Expected Improvement for the Services Economy But Hiring Still Softened in October
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The momentum of the dominant services sector of the economy showed improvement beyond expectations in October, at 52.4 reading after September’s 50.0 index level, but hiring had continued to soften and suggests more of that to come. The chief of the purchasing managers survey, Steve Miller, told reporters that in the context […]
Powell Cites ‘Significant Downside Risks’ To Jobs; Puts Less Emphasis On Inflation
– Can’t Ease Too Quickly, But Easing Too Slowly Would Mean ‘Painful” Job Losses By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell avoided giving an overt signal about what the Fed will do with interest rates later this month, but clearly leaned toward greater concern about a softening labor market than about […]
BofA Global Research: Managers Dumped Bonds in October Despite Expectations of Rate Cuts
By Vicki Schmelzer NEW YORK (MaceNews) – Global investors dumped bonds in October, despite expectations of future Fed cuts and continued concern about rising inflation, according to Bank of America Global Research’s monthly fund manager survey, released Tuesday. In October, a net 24% of portfolio managers were underweight bonds, versus a net 3% underweight in […]
‘It’s Not a Good Trajectory’ ISM’s Chief Says of Services Economy as Tariffs on Goods Spills Over
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The September Institute of Supply Management report on the momentum of the services economy – showing some slippage in the index to 50 – is part of a slowdown three years in the making, now burdened with spillovers from goods tariffs, the purchasing managers survey chief said Friday. The latest reading of […]
US Sept Manufacturing ISM Weaker Overall as Tariff and Pricing Uncertainty Combines with Supply Chain Disruptions, Fewer Foreign Customers
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The Institute of Supply Management September reading of U.S. manufacturing showed overall momentum slowing though the index improved slightly to a still contractionary 49.1 and the report’s organizer warned that the weakening could be a leading indicator. “The panelists are clearly saying that their customers are just not ordering,” said Susan Spence […]
TRANSCRIPT: Fed’s Powell Says Quarter-Point Cut ‘Risk Management’ Rather Than Reaction to Actual Jobs Deterioriation
WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is a transcript of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s post-FOMC news conference Wednesday: Recent indicators suggest that growth of economic activity has moderated. GEP rose at a pace of around one and a half percent in the first half of the year, down from 2.5 percent last year. The moderation […]
Japan Still Sees Gradual Economic Recovery but Warns Some Uncertainty over Trade Deals lingers, Downgrading Its View on Exporter Profits
By Max Sato (MaceNews) – Japan’s government continues to believe that the domestic economy is expected stay on a “modest recovery” track after top negotiators from Tokyo and Washington have worked out some details of their bilateral trade deal reached last month but also warned that uncertainty over global growth is here to stay for […]
Fed Officials Still Divided, Unsure About When and How Much To Cut Interest Rates
By Steven K. Beckner (MaceNews) – Federal Reserve officials have continued this week to muse about cutting interest rates for the first time since December when the Fed’s rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets in mid- September, but the FOMC remains divided and unsure. Despite an uptick in inflation, labor market worries have come to […]
US TARIFFS STATE OF PLAY: New Reciprocal Tariffs Don’t Dispel Uncertainty, Confusion
–Trump Fires Head of the Bureau of Labor Statistics because of alleged manipulation By Denny Gulino WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – With new reciprocal levies raising America’s average tariff rate to above 18% and the latest jobs and ISM reports raising stagflation fears, the overall era of uncertainty seems to have intensified, not diminished. The environment of […]
TRANSCRIPT: Fed’s Powell Stays Away From Promises of a September Rate Cut
.WASHINGTON (MaceNews) – The following is a rough transcript of Wednesday afternoon’s post-FOMC meeting news conference with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell: Despite elevated uncertainty, the economy is in a solid position. The unemployment rate remains low and the labor market is at or near maximum employment. Inflation has been running somewhat above our 2% […]