City Jackson Financial News

Stocks and bonds pushed higher after the latest Federal Reserve minutes and a big downward revision of US payrolls reinforced bets officials will cut rates in September.

Federal Reserve officials have said they’re increasingly confident that they’ve nearly tamed inflation

The Fed has so far remained resolute that future rate cut decisions will be data driven as it maintained its target range for the Fed funds rate at 5.25%-5.5% in late July (31) until it is confident that inflation has hit its 2% target on a sustained basis.  Held between 22-24 August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, the 47th annual conference will focus on «Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy» and provide central bankers such as Jerome Powell, chair of the Fed, to «clearly state their views», said John Plassard, senior investment specialist at Mirabaud Group. Fo...

Federal Reserve officials have said they're increasingly confident that they've nearly tamed inflation. Now, it's the health of the job market that's starting to draw their concern. With inflation cooling toward its 2% target, the pace of hiring slowing and the unemployment rate edging up, the Fed is poised to cut its benchmark interest rate next month from its 23-year high. How fast it may cut rates after that, though, will be determined mainly by whether employers keep hiring. A lower Fed benchmark rate would eventually lead to lower rates for auto loans, mortgages and other forms of consumer borrowing. Chair Jerome Powell will likely provide some hints about how the Fed sees the economy and what its next steps may be in a high-profile speech Friday in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at the Fed's annual conference of central bankers. It's a platform that Powell and his predecessors have often used to signal changes in their thinking or approach.

Mary Daly, president of the San Francisco Fed and voting member of the Bank's Open Market Committee, told the FT that the latest data provided her some reassurance that inflation was now under control. US inflation dips below 3% for the first time since 2021 US inflation fell below 3% for the first time since in three years last week (15 August). This was followed by better than expected results from July's US retail and food services sales. Daly spoke ahead of the Bank's annual gathering in Jackson Hole Wyoming this week, where leading members of the Fed and market participants...

US stock market indexes Nasdaq Composite, S&P 500, and Dow Jones are likely to trade higher on Monday as encouraging data eased recession worries following a brutal sell-off in Wall Street earlier in August. The S&P 500 has rebounded more than 6 per cent since August 5, when a steep drop pushed the benchmark the US index to its biggest three-day slide in over two years. A rapid return to calm was also evident in the Cboe Volatility Index, or Wall Street's «fear gauge,» which has retreated from last week’s four-year highs at a record pace, as per a Reuters report. Some of 2024's biggest winners have staged strong rebounds since August 5. Chipmaker Nvidia has bounced more than 20 per cent, while the Philadelphia SE Semiconductor index has gained more than 14 per cent. Small-cap shares, which had been strong performers in July, have also recovered from recent lows, with the Russell 2000 up nearly 5 per cent, Reuters reported.

The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq notched their seventh straight session of gains, as stocks recouped losses from a tailspin two weeks ago. The sell-off, sparked by weak economic data and heightened recession fears, confirmed the Nasdaq had entered correction territory.

A rally that put stocks on track for their best week in 2024 lost steam on Friday, with traders assessing the latest economic data for clues on the outlook for Federal Reserve policy.

US stock market on Wednesday closed on green as key indices — S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, and Nasdaq — rose. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 0.6 per cent at 40,008.39, while the broad-based S&P 500 rose 0.4 per cent to 5,455.21, and the Nasdaq increased by less than 0.1 per cent 17,192.60. Among individual stocks, the news of Snickers maker Mars's near-$36 billion acquisition of snacking giant Kellanova made waves on Wall Street, sending the share price of the former firm up by 4.5 per cent, and the latter by 7.8 per cent.

Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim marks a significant return to Middle Earth cinema, adapting uncharted aspects of J.R.R. Tolkien's mythology. This animated film in the Japanese Anime style represents a fresh take on the beloved franchise, arriving a decade after Peter Jackson's final Hobbit installment and amidst ongoing Middle Earth projects, including Amazon Prime's The Rings of Power.

Rural pharmacies can be a touchstone for their communities

Cannes Film Festival, the film ‘Head Games’ is in sharp focus as the producers are getting ready to sell the distribution rights for this psychological thriller with a sci-fi edge to entities around the world. This film will be directed by Anthony Mandler, who had earlier directed ‘Monster’ in 2018. The script for this thriller is being handled by Colin Liddle, who has also been associated with ‘Penny Dreadful: City of Angels’.

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Lorna Green, the woman responsible for setting fire to Wyoming's only full-service abortion clinic, pay almost $300,000 in restitution, meeting the entirety of the prosecution's request. Currently serving a five-year prison sentence for the 2022 incident at Wellspring Health Access in Casper, Green's actions caused substantial damage, delaying the clinic's opening for almost a year. Recently operational since April, Wellspring stands as Wyoming's sole abortion clinic, following the closure of a pill abortion facility in Jackson due to escalating costs.

WASHINGTON—Federal Reserve officials voted to hold interest rates steady at a 22-year high but signaled they were prepared to raise rates once more this year to combat inflation. With economic activity stronger than anticipated, a majority of officials also expected they would need to maintain interest rates near their current level through next year, according to projections released Wednesday at the conclusion of their two-day policy meeting. Fed officials raised their benchmark federal-funds rate at their previous meeting in July to a range between 5.25% and 5.5%.

The Federal Open Market Committee will keep rates steady in the 5.25% to 5.5% range at its Sept. 19-20 meeting, the survey showed, and remain there until a first cut next May – two months later than the economists’ view in July. Policymakers are likely to forecast one additional rate hike this year in the so-called dot plot contained in their quarterly Summary of Economic Projections, as they upgrade their view of the US economic outlook.

The global economy is shifting toward a higher-for-longer period for interest rates, making the coming flurry of monetary decisions across the developed world pivotal in mapping out that plateau.

Rising trade barriers

Investing.com — U.S. stock futures pointed higher on Monday, as investors digested key interest rate commentary from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell and looked ahead to fresh economic data.

Employment growth in the world’s largest economy probably cooled and wage increases moderated in August, suggesting a further tempering of inflation risks that reduces the urgency for another Federal Reserve interest-rate hike.

European shares opened higher on the final trading week of August, as traders weighed the prospect of higher interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve and looked ahead to upcoming economic data later in the week.