Author: omc_admin
Stocks ended last week slightly down after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell reiterated the central bank’s wait-and-see approach to interest rate policy and President Trump unveiled a trade deal between the US and UK. All three major indexes finished last week in the red, as trade volatility moved stock charts. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) sank about 0.5%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) slipped roughly 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gave up about 0.3%. The week ahead will bring a fresh update on inflation, with the release of the Consumer Price Index (CPI) on Tuesday, as well as…
American workers are the least confident they’ve been in over four years about finding a new job if they become unemployed, according to a new survey released by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on Thursday. The NY Fed’s survey showed the mean perceived probability of finding a job within three months if one were to lose their current position fell by 1.9 percentage points to 49.2%, the lowest level since March 2021. The drop in job confidence comes despite continued strength in the broader labor market. In April, the US economy added 177,000 nonfarm payrolls, more than the…
Super Micro Computer (SMCI) stock dropped nearly 6% midday Wednesday after the company lowered its full-year revenue outlook, citing economic uncertainty amid President Trump’s trade war and fierce competition from other AI server makers. Super Micro said on Tuesday that it expects its full-year revenue for 2025 to fall between $21.8 billion and $22.6 billion, down from its prior guidance of $23.5 billion and $25 billion. CEO Charles Liang told analysts in a call following the company’s third quarter earnings results that tariffs and macroeconomic uncertainty “concern” some customers and make it difficult to forecast the adoption of its technology.…
The biggest question facing the Federal Reserve as it gathers again this week is how to grapple with a tariff-related “tug-of-war” between sticky inflation and a slowing economy — as well as a president who wants looser monetary policy. How that dilemma gets resolved could mean two very different courses for interest rates in the coming months. President Trump has made his views known in recent weeks: He wants rates lowered ahead of any slowing of the economy possibly triggered by his trade policies. And he is not happy with the caution of Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who has said…
President Trump once again went after the Federal Reserve on Tuesday, saying at a rally in Michigan that “I have a Fed person who is not really doing a good job.” It was an apparent reference to Fed chairman Jerome Powell, although he didn’t mention Powell by name, with Trump saying, “I want to be very nice and respectful to the Fed.” “You are not supposed to criticize the Fed; you are supposed to let him do his own thing, but I know much more than he does about interest rates, believe me,” he added. President Donald Trump speaks on…
Job openings slid in March to sit near a four-year low as the labor market continued to cool. New data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed 7.19 million jobs open at the end of March, a decrease from the 7.48 million seen in February. Job openings in March hit their lowest level since September 2024 and were near levels not seen since December 2020. The data comes as investors closely watch for any signs that economic growth may be slowing further. The February figure was revised lower from the 7.57 million open jobs initially reported. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg…
By Michael S. Derby and Ann Saphir (Reuters) -Top U.S. bank lending officers reported weaker demand from businesses and consumers for many types of credit during the first three months of the year, according to a Federal Reserve report released on Monday, reversing a short-lived surge in loan demand the previous quarter. The number of banks reporting weaker demand for commercial and industrial loans outnumbered those reporting stronger demand by the biggest margin in a year for small firms, the central bank’s April Senior Loan Officer Survey detailing activity during the first quarter showed. For large firms, demand for loans…
By Alexandra Alper WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. federal human resources agency at the heart of billionaire Trump adviser Elon Musk’s efforts to slash the federal workforce on Friday canceled a contract it had awarded to Workday and which had excluded other bidders. The contract for a new cloud-based HR platform, signed on May 2 and awarded without seeking bids from rivals, had raised eyebrows among current and former employees of the Office of Personnel Management. They had described the sole-source contract as irregular, given the competition in an industry that includes ADP and SAP, and expressed surprise to see OPM’s…
By Howard Schneider PALO ALTO (Reuters) -President Donald Trump’s unfolding trade policy may curb U.S. productivity and possibly require higher interest rates to contain inflation in a less efficient economy, Federal Reserve governor Lisa Cook said on Friday. “I expect to see a drag on productivity in the near term stemming from the recent changes to trade policy and the related uncertainty,” Cook said in remarks prepared for a delivery at an economics conference at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Uncertainty around Trump’s plans could discourage investment, Cook said, while the rising cost of imported intermediate goods and equipment could also…
By Howard Schneider PALO ALTO (Reuters) – The Fed should not commit to further interest rate cuts until it is clear whether the Trump administration’s tariff policies lead to persistent inflation or a less serious, one-time adjustment in prices, St. Louis Fed President Alberto Musalem said on Friday. Musalem said he currently puts even odds on either of the two paths for inflation. In theory, tariffs should prompt a one-time price jump similar to the imposition of a tax; but coming off the heels of recent high inflation the effect could be longer-lasting, and may also be more persistent since…