County Jerome Financial News

Brent crude edged up by 3 cents to $84.45 a barrel by 1332 GMT while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude dipped 4 cents to $80.07. Hurricane Idalia strengthened on Tuesday as it headed towards Florida's Gulf Coast after skirting past Cuba. It is likely to cause power outages and could hit crude production.

By Karen Brettell and Alun John

US job openings fell for a third straight month in July as the labor market gradually slows, but conditions remain tight, likely ensuring that the Federal Reserve would keep interest rates high for some time. Job openings, a measure of labor demand dropped 338,000 to 8.827 million on the last day of July, the lowest level since March 2021, the Labor Department said in its monthly Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey, or JOLTS report, on Tuesday. Data for June was revised lower to show 9.165 million job openings instead of the previously reported 9.582 million. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast 9.465 million job openings in July. The labor market has remained resilient despite 525 basis points in interest rate hikes from the Fed since March 2022, in part as employers filled positions, which opened up during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fed chair Jerome Powell spoke at the Jackson Hole symposium last week.

European stocks gained for a second day as traders awaited a raft of economic figures over the next few days for clues on the outlook for global central bank policies.

(Reuters) — U.S. stock index futures were subdued on Tuesday in a data-packed week, with job openings figures due later in the day that will provide further clues on the state of the economy.

Three Republican lawmakers have lashed out at the Federal Reserve regarding its recent moves to strengthen oversight of banks' cryptocurrency and stablecoin activities. 

Investing.com — The U.S. dollar edged lower in early European trade Tuesday, retreating from near three-month highs ahead of the release of a slew of key economic data this week. 

Indian rupee was little changed on Tuesday after surrendering its opening gains due to the dollar demand from corporates, traders said. The rupee was at 82.6325 to the U.S. dollar by 10:46 a.m.

Investing.com-- Gold prices rose to a near three-week high on Tuesday, tracking some weakness in the dollar and Treasury yields as markets awaited a slew of key U.S. economic readings due later this week.

A group of Republican lawmakers have expressed their concerns regarding the Federal Reserve's recent measures aimed at strengthening its oversight of crypto and stablecoin activities within banks. 

Investing.com--  Most Asian currencies strengthened on Tuesday, while the dollar retreated from near three-month highs as investors trimmed some positions before a slew of key economic readings this week. 

The dollar index, which measures U.S. currency against six key rivals, eased 0.077% at 103.85, after slipping 0.2% on Monday.

Wall Street ended higher on Monday, with gains in 3M and Goldman Sachs ahead of key inflation and jobs data this week that will offer more clues on the Federal Reserve's interest rate path. All three major stock indexes rose as investors digested last Friday's comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell that the U.S. central bank may need to raise interest rates further to ensure inflation is contained. Focus now shifts to a report on the personal consumption expenditures price index, the Fed's preferred inflation gauge, to be released on Thursday, and non-farm payrolls data due on Friday. «The fact that Powell didn't come out and say anything particularly hawkish or particularly unnerving to markets — that has proven to make this a bit of a risk-on day, even if he wasn't outright dovish either,» said Ross Mayfield, Investment Strategy Analyst at Baird. Nvidia rose 1.78% and was the most traded stock in the S&P 500, with $31 billion worth of the chipmaker's shares exchanged. Other megacaps also gained, with Apple and Alphabet both adding 0.9%. 3M jumped 5.2% after a report that the conglomerate has tentatively agreed to pay more than $5.5 billion to resolve over 300,000 lawsuits claiming it sold the U.S.

Despite recent concerns about further potential interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve, Bitcoin has shown notable resilience according to analysts. This comes after Fed Chair Jerome Powell's speech at the annual Jackson Hole symposium last week, where he indicated that more rate hikes may be on the horizon as the Fed battles elevated inflation.

Investing.com — Stocks were rising on Monday after hawkish remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell last week and as investors awaited key economic reports due this week, including the jobs report for August on Friday.

By Arathy Somasekhar

The Federal Reserve is seemingly running interference with congressional efforts to regulate stablecoins, according to a letter recently sent to Fed Chairman Jerome Powell. The letter came from Chairman of the U.S. House of Representatives Financial Services Committee Patrick McHenry and subcommittee chairs French Hill and Bill Huizenga.

Christine Lagarde's avoidance of a clear signal of intent for European Central Bank policy has just thrown a brighter spotlight on a pivotal week in the euro zone. While the president observed on Friday that inflation remains undefeated, she didn't address prospects for the September 14 meeting, giving colleagues scope to publicly debate the need for increasing borrowing costs just as crucial data arrive in coming days. Consumer-price numbers will set the scene for one of the most suspenseful decisions since ECB rate hikes began more than a year ago, as officials ask if additional monetary tightening is an imperative, or whether a souring economic outlook is bleak enough to warrant a pause. Those who attended the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference alongside Lagarde will have heard for themselves Chair Jerome Powell's own signal that US borrowing costs will stay high and could even rise further. “Our view remains that a rate hike in September remains on a knife-edge but ultimately the ECB, with an eye on core inflation, will raise,” David Powell and Maeva Cousin of Bloomberg Economics wrote after the president's speech. By contrast, in another illustration of the close-run nature of the decision, economists at Berenberg led by Holger Schmieding changed their forecast on Friday before Lagarde spoke to put a 60% probability on a rate pause, up from 40%.

By Shashwat Chauhan

Last week, everyone had their eyes fixed on what Jerome Powell would say at the Jackson Hole event. The big question was whether he'd once again try and sound cautiously hawkish.