Here are the most important news that investors need to start the trading day:
1. Interest rate rally
Markets remained broadly stable after a sell-off on economic concerns earlier this month. The three major U.S. indices rose again on Wednesday as investors anticipated a rate cut at the Federal Reserve’s September meeting. All eyes will be on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s comments on Friday at the central bank’s Jackson Hole symposium for clues as to how big the rate cut might be. S&P500 And Nasdaq recorded their ninth positive session in 10 on Thursday, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average had its sixth winning day in seven. Follow live market updates here.
2. Pruning in September?
A September rate cut seems far from certain. Minutes from the Federal Reserve’s July meeting suggest the central bank is “likely” to ease monetary policy if economic data continues to perform as expected. Many Fed officials seemed confident that inflation is approaching the bank’s 2% target, and others pointed out that the labor market appears to be weakening. The release of the Fed meeting minutes came hours after the U.S. Labor Department said the U.S. economy added 818,000 fewer jobs in the 12 months through March than originally reported. While the numbers still paint a picture of solid job growth, they fueled expectations that the Fed will soon cut lending rates.
3. Power failure
Across the U.S. auto industry, companies are scaling back their electric vehicle ambitions. The latest move came on Wednesday, when ford Ford announced that it would postpone production of an electric truck at a new plant in Tennessee and abandon plans for a three-row electric SUV. The Detroit-based automaker announced that it would instead focus on hybrid models and commercial electric vehicles. According to CFO John Lawler, this will allow Ford to “focus on areas where we have competitive advantages.” The company announced that it would take a special write-down of $400 million in connection with this measure.
4. A mountain of offers
Paramount GlobalParamount’s takeover saga is not over yet. The company has extended the window in which it can receive competing offers for its merger agreement with Skydance by 15 days. The move comes as the company considers a bid from media executive Edgar Bronfman Jr. On Wednesday, Bronfman raised his offer to a revised $6 billion. Paramount had agreed to a merger with Skydance in July after months of talks.
5. Back on the bike
PelotonThe turnaround of is beginning to take shape. Shares of the connected fitness company jumped after it announced it would significantly reduce losses in the fiscal fourth quarter and focus on profitability rather than growth in the coming year. Peloton also reported an increase in revenue – albeit a slight one – for the first time since the 2021 holiday quarter. The results come at a time of change in the fitness industry, as Peloton and its competitors focus more on strength training to meet changing consumer habits.
—CNBC’s Pia Singh, Alex Harring, Jeff Cox, Michael Wayland, Lillian Rizzo, Alex Sherman, Gabrielle Fonrouge and Justine Fisher contributed to this report.
