Market Analysis

Gold Rebounds Before Fed Speech That May Offer Rate Clues
  • August 23, 2024

Gold Rebounds Before Fed Speech That May Offer Rate Clues

(Bloomberg) -- Gold rebounded above $2,500 an ounce, ahead of a speech by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that may provide fresh clues on the central bank’s monetary-policy path.Most Read from BloombergChicago's Migrant Surge Is Stirring Trouble for Democrats in DNC Host CitySydney Central Train Station Is Now an Architectural DestinationWith Housing Costs High, Democrats Hone YIMBY MessageWith Self-Driving Vans, Hamburg Tries to Make Microtransit WorkUK Transport Minister Clears Path for Mo

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Investors rush to money market funds before Fed rate cut, BofA says
  • August 23, 2024

Investors rush to money market funds before Fed rate cut, BofA says

Investors poured $37 billion into cash-like money market funds (MMFs) in the week to Wednesday, Bank of America said on Friday, as they braced for the U.S. Federal Reserve to cut interest rates in September. It put MMFs on track for their biggest three-week cumulative inflow since January at $145 billion, BofA said, citing figures from financial data provider EPFR. Investors put $20.4 billion into stocks, $15.1 billion into bonds, and $1.1 billion into gold, BofA said, in its weekly round up of flows in and out of world markets.

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With Fed rate cut set, Powell may focus on explaining US economic conditions at Jackson Hole
  • August 23, 2024

With Fed rate cut set, Powell may focus on explaining US economic conditions at Jackson Hole

U.S. economic data is giving the Federal Reserve the green light to cut interest rates, financial markets are aligned for the first move, and the central bank all but gave the game away on Wednesday when a readout of its July meeting showed a "vast majority" of policymakers agreed the policy easing likely would begin next month. With all that in place, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's goal in his keynote speech on Friday to the Kansas City Fed's annual Jackson Hole research conference may be less about further shaping expectations and more about assessing where the economy stands ahead of what he has called a "consequential" first step. "I don't think he needs to do a lot beyond the press conference in July," said Richard Clarida, a former Fed vice chair who is now global economic adviser for Pimco, referring to how Powell leaned strongly toward a rate cut at the Sept. 17-18 meeting in remarks to reporters after the July 30-31 meeting.

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Oil set to end week lower on demand concerns, easing supply woes
  • August 23, 2024

Oil set to end week lower on demand concerns, easing supply woes

(Reuters) -Oil prices were little changed on Friday but on track to end the week lower, as weaker U.S. employment data raised concerns over demand, and renewed ceasefire talks in Gaza eased worries about supply disruptions. Brent crude futures rose 16 cents, or 0.2%, to $77.38 a barrel at 0642 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures inched up 15 cents to $73.16.

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How fast will interest rates fall? Fed Chair Powell may provide clues in high-profile speech
  • August 23, 2024

How fast will interest rates fall? Fed Chair Powell may provide clues in high-profile speech

With the Federal Reserve considered certain to start cutting its benchmark interest rate next month, Chair Jerome Powell's highly anticipated speech Friday morning at an economic conference will be closely watched for any hints about how many additional rate cuts might be in the pipeline. Powell is expected to say the Fed has become more confident that inflation is nearing its 2% target, more than two years after it hit a painful four-decade high. Economists note that forthcoming economic data, including a monthly jobs report on Sept. 6, will help determine the size of future Fed rate cuts — whether a typical quarter-point cut or a more aggressive half-point drop — and how fast they occur.

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Singapore July core inflation 2.5% y/y, lowest in more than two years
  • August 23, 2024

Singapore July core inflation 2.5% y/y, lowest in more than two years

Singapore's key consumer price gauge rose 2.5% in July from a year earlier, the smallest increase since February 2022, official data showed on Friday. The core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - was lower than a 2.9% forecast in a Reuters poll, and compared with the 2.9% seen in June. Headline inflation in February was up 2.4% from the same month last year, lower than the 2.5% forecast in the poll.

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US ambassador to Mexico calls proposed judicial overhaul a democracy 'risk' and economic threat
  • August 23, 2024

US ambassador to Mexico calls proposed judicial overhaul a democracy 'risk' and economic threat

U.S. Ambassador Ken Salazar said Thursday a judicial overhaul proposed by Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador poses a “risk" to Mexico's democracy and "threatens the historic commercial relationship” between Mexico and the U.S. The proposal, including a provision to require judges be elected, has spurred a fierce outcry from investors and financial institutions in recent days, with the Mexican peso steadily dropping in currency markets. “Democracies can't function without a strong, independent and non-corrupt judicial branch,” Salazar told reporters.

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Tokyo inflation seen unchanged in August, snapping 3-month acceleration: Reuters poll
  • August 23, 2024

Tokyo inflation seen unchanged in August, snapping 3-month acceleration: Reuters poll

Consumer price inflation is expected to stay unchanged in Japan's capital Tokyo in August, ending three months of acceleration, a Reuters poll showed, suggesting the central bank may not be in a rush to hike rates. The same poll also found factory output probably rebounded and retail sales kept growing in July, underscoring the strength of Japan's economy after better-than-expected April-June gross domestic product data last week. Moderation in the Tokyo core CPI, the leading indicator of nationwide inflation trends, could cool hawkish views for the Bank of Japan's monetary normalisation schedule after the central bank raised its short-term policy rate to 0.25% in July.

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Mexico City assembly OKs strongest rent control since the 1940s, limiting rises to inflation rate
  • August 22, 2024

Mexico City assembly OKs strongest rent control since the 1940s, limiting rises to inflation rate

The legislature of Mexico City approved the most ambitious rent control law since the 1940s Thursday, limiting rent increases to the rate of inflation in the previous year. Rents in the vast city of 9 million inhabitants were essentially frozen in the 1940s, and remained so for decades on older buildings. Mexico City, like many around the world, had seen complaints that rents were shooting up because of digital nomads and short-term rentals.

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