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Since graduating with a degree in economics from the University of Birmingham in 2018, Joel has worked as a financial market/cryptocurrency analyst. He firmly believes that emerging crypto technology...

European shares climbed on Monday, led by retail and basic resources stocks, with investors bracing for a data-heavy week with a focus on U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's speech at Jackson Hole for clues on potential rate cuts. The pan-European STOXX 600 index closed 0.6% higher, touching an over three-week high in broad-based market gains, after having notched its biggest weekly gain in three months.

index and a fall in crude oil prices which softens India's inflation and trade deficit. The rupee closed at 83.87 against the US dollar, versus its previous close of 83.94/$1 on Friday, LSEG data showed. The currency strengthened to 83.84 during the day, the strongest since 6th August, but dollar demand from public sector banks capped its gains, traders said.

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.

U.S. stocks drifted higher as Wall Street coasted to the close of its best week since November

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.

The financial press is cheering that Wednesday’s inflation report makes an interest-rate cut next month a fait accompli. Go, Jay, go. Yet while cooling inflation shows that the Federal Reserve’s monetary medicine is working, Chairman Jerome Powell’s caution to date has been warranted.

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.

Bahnsen Group managing partner David Bahnsen analyzes the Feds plan to reduce inflation on Varney & Co.

US consumer inflation eased slightly in July, according to government data published Wednesday, its smallest 12-month increase since March 2021 and a positive sign for the Federal Reserve as it weighs cutting interest rates. The consumer price index (CPI) rose 2.9 percent last month from a year ago, the Labor Department said in a statement, while a measure that strips out volatile food and energy costs cooled to an annual rate of 3.2 percent. This was slightly lower than the median forecast of economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

A large majority of economists surveyed see only a quarter-point decrease in interest rates coming in September — a finding that’s at odds with calls from some large Wall Street banks for a jumbo cut at the next meeting.

In the market's eyes, the Federal Reserve finds itself either poised to head off a recession or doomed to repeat the mistakes of its recent past — when it was too late seeing a coming storm.

The Socioeconomic Theory of Finance author Robert Prechter analyzes todays economic environment on Cavuto: Coast to Coast. 

Federal Reserve economist Claudia Sahm has expressed concerns that while the US isn't currently in a recession, it is alarmingly close. She predicts that central bank policymakers might need to adjust their strategies in response to the increasing risks. On Bloomberg Television’s Bloomberg Surveillance program, Sahm commented on the unexpected rise in the unemployment rate in July’s employment report, noting that this trend is historically consistent with the early stages of a recession. Although she acknowledged that the US might not be in a recession yet, the situation is precariously close. The report revealed a significant slowdown in US hiring and an increase in the unemployment rate to 4.3%. This caused the three-month moving average to exceed the 12-month low by half a percentage point, activating the Sahm Rule. Sahm developed this statistical measure to guide fiscal policymakers on when to stimulate the economy to counteract a recession.

There is more than one way to skin a cat," goes an old English proverb, which means that there are many ways to accomplish the same task. In central bank-speak, the equivalent would perhaps be: “There is more than one way to effect a soft-landing," that holy grail of central banks the world over. For, going by their actions, especially in recent times, there is no single path to getting there.

Washington Post editorial writer and columnist Heather Long discusses the Federal Reserve's management of rate cuts and the impact of the July jobs report.

Elon Musk said on Sunday the Federal Reserve needs to cut interest rates and that it was foolish for the U.S. central bank not to have done so already. Musk's comment, which was made in response to a post on the social media site X, followed a run of weak data last week that has sparked worries the Fed may have left interest rates elevated for too long, resulting in damage to the economy.

Federal Reserve easing cycle based on the latest evidence that the labour market is cooling. Economists at Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase revamped their forecasts for US monetary policy Friday after data showed the US unemployment rate rose again in July, calling for earlier, bigger or more interest-rate cuts. Economists at Citigroup — already among the most aggressive in calling for the Fed to cut interest rates this year — said they expect half-point rate cuts in September and November and a quarter-point cut in December, having previously predicted quarter-point cuts at all three meetings. The Fed will then reduce rates by a quarter point at each meeting until mid-2025, bringing the policy band to 3%-3.25%, Veronica Clark and Andrew Hollenhorst predicted.

Stocks tumbled Friday on worries the U.S. economy could be cracking under the weight of high interest rates meant to whip inflation

employment report for July raised expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates by 50 basis points in September as the economy sours. Employers added 114,000 jobs, below expectations for an increase of 175,000. The unemployment rate rose to 4.3%, above economists expectations that it would be unchanged on the month at 4.1%.