Usa Financial News

US Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday after a summer of mixed economic data, while leaving the door open to another hike if needed. The Fed has raised interest rates 11 times over the last 18 months, lifting its key lending rate to a level not seen for 22 years as it tackles inflation still stubbornly above its long-term target of two percent. After falling sharply over the last year, inflation has ticked up again in recent months due to a spike in energy costs, keeping up the pressure on the Fed. But analysts and traders still broadly expect the US central bank to hold rates steady on September 19-20 in order to give policymakers more time to assess the health of the world's largest economy. «We think the Fed is done with its tightening cycle,» EY Chief Economist Gregory Daco told AFP.

One of Whitehaven Coal’s largest investors has accused the company of telling a select number of shareholders that it would delay its share buyback program and was interested in buying two massive coking coal mines, suggesting this left the market “misinformed”.

European Central Bank cuts interest rates in the first half of next year would be a mistake, according to Governing Council member Martins Kazaks. Wage growth in the euro zone hasn't yet peaked and it's unclear how quickly underlying inflation will retreat, the head of Latvia's central bank said. Last week's decision to lift borrowing costs for a 10th straight time puts the ECB more solidly on track to reach its 2% target in 2025, but it's too soon to exclude another hike. “The market shouldn't expect that we would jump too early to cut rates,” Kazaks said in an interview. “We'll start cutting rates when we see that we consistently and significantly start to undershoot our target, and what I can say clearly is that expectations of a rate cut in spring or early summer in my view are not really consistent with the macro scenario that we have.” Traders are starting to price cuts from April of next year and some economists see them as early as June. Projections presented last week show that inflation in the 20-member euro area will take another two years to reach 2%, even as price pressures are set to slow sharply in the coming months. The economy is seen returning to quarterly growth rates of 0.4% in 2024 after stagnating for most of 2023.

fastest-growing economy in the world? Not India. It is Guyana. The country's GDP is expected to grow 38% in 2023, after registering growth of 62% in 2022 and averaging over 30% in the two years before that.

NEW DELHI : Micron Technology Inc. intends to build several semiconductor assembly and packaging units in India in addition to its proposed fabrication unit, minister of state for electronics and information technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, as the US-based company takes a long-term view of the country as a market and manufacturing destination for semiconductors. The minister said Micron’s first investment in India catalyzed the transition of fence sitters willing to consider the country as a serious part of their semiconductor assembly and eventually manufacturing plans; therefore, it was in the government’s interest to ensure that the company’s first plant is operational and functional at the earliest.

Hollywood strikes, Drew Barrymore has now reversed her decision. The actor-producer and show host said she is pausing The Drew Barrymore Show until the writers' strike is resolved. Drew Barrymore had announced the return of her talk show for Season 4 beginning September 18, 2023. She had apologized to the Writers' Guild of America (WGA), the union behind the writers’ strike in the US, for doing so. She explained in a video on September 15 saying that she needs to keep her show running to pay the crew. But the actor deleted the video the same day, after backlash from her fans and the film industry. Considering her decision was harming the show and her image, Drew Barrymore seems to have reversed her call. Drew Barrymore released a statement on Instagram on September 17, 2023, saying, «I am making the decision to pause the show’s premiere until the strike is over.»

Meryl Gordon, a renowned author and award-winning journalist, has made headlines recently for her candid remarks about CNN host Anderson Cooper's upcoming book, «Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune.» In a revealing interview on Doug Brunt's podcast, «Dedicated with Doug Brunt,» Gordon expressed her disappointment in Cooper's work, accusing him of relying heavily on her previous writings about Brooke Astor without contributing substantially to the narrative.

Apple has set the ball rolling by supporting India's homegrown global positioning system (GPS), NavIC (Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System). GoI hopes to persuade other mobile handset-makers to incorporate the positioning system that uses a clutch of indigenous satellites to cover an area of 1,500 km beyond India's borders. Apple is leading the way in showcasing Indian technological capability to a wider audience.

Nifty Pharma index has risen nearly 30%. Indian pharma market (IPM)’s growth was in mid-single digits in August. It grew 5.8% from a year earlier, as against 6.4% in July, according to analysts’ data.

Companies considering India as an investment destination are concerned over long-term outlook of the India-China relationship, besides factors such as competitiveness, the Centre-state polity, societal conflicts, short-term infrastructure and skill availability, said Nick Allan, chief executive of risk consultancy firm Control Risk. This is particularly relevant, considering several American, European, and Japanese companies are exploring India as a key part of their China-plus-one strategy. “In the long term, you know, people question, where’s India and China’s relationship heading? There’s no question that India is emerging as a competitor in a number of spheres to China.

The United States House Financial Services Committee is moving forward with legislation aimed at preventing the issuance of a central bank digital currency. 

The term “Bond Vigilantes” is a nostalgic twist on an old-west theme. In the nineteenth century, the American West formed self-appointed groups, or committees, to seize the duties of law enforcement and judicial authority in situations when citizens found law enforcement lacking or inadequate.

reality TV stars and NFL running backs are getting into it. But this is not a revival of unions. In fact, unless they reform, it could be their last gasp.

By Nivedita Balu

By David Shepardson

By Rich McKay

West Nile virus, including fatalities among residents. Here's an overview of the situation and the potential risks associated with this mosquito-borne illness.

AI) software. Opened for a funding round recently, Anuj Gupta's GreenVan uses a simple WhatsApp interface. It is designed as an 'Amazon of Services' offering that intends to transform the way people book essential tasks online. It was born out of Gupta's own experience of relocating from the US to the UK around five years ago and finding the experience of sourcing reliable trade people a rather cumbersome word-of-mouth process.

US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) has sanctioned a $20 million long term loan for Gurgaon-based Ummeed Housing Finance to fund housing needs of the economically weaker and middle-income groups. The American funding body will provide the debt at a 4.25% fixed rate for 15 years, Ummeed's founder and managing director Ashutosh Sharma said. «This DFC facility would allow us to extend longer tenure credit to the underbanked population to assist with home purchases, construction, and extension. This will also help us diversify the wagon wheel of liability while the funding is attractive from an interest rate perspective,» Sharma told ET. The all blended cost of this borrowing including the hedging cost for five years would be anything between 8-9%, he said.

General Datatech (GDT) said it may start selling its products to clients in India in a couple of years. The company which runs operates out of Bengaluru in India currently serves only US clients. «While we don't do much business with Indian companies yet, our operations here contribute to about 30% of our global revenue,» group CEO Shawn O'Grady told ET. That may rise to 40% in the next couple of years, he added.

(Bloomberg) — The European Central Bank raised interest rates this week and trimmed growth estimates as President Christine Lagarde signaled a shift that could mean borrowing costs have peaked.