Trump claims Powell 'hurting' the housing industry in latest attack on Fed chair
Trump has repeatedly urged Powell to cut interest rates while also sharply criticizing Powell.
"Could somebody please inform Jerome "Too Late" Powell that he is hurting the Housing Industry, very badly? People can't get a Mortgage because of him. There is no Inflation, and every sign is pointing to a major Rate Cut," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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Reuters
8 minutes ago
- Reuters
European shares steady as tech-led selloff jitters cool
SINGAPORE, Aug 20 (Reuters) - European shares steadied on Wednesday, as a tech-led selloff on Wall Street that has rippled through equity markets eased, while currency and rates traders honed in on a key meeting of central bankers later this week. The pan-European STOXX 600 index (.STOXX), opens new tab was nearly flat after declining by as much as 0.4% earlier in the day, pressured by weakness in tech and defence sector stocks. That early weakness followed a fall in Asian markets, where tech-heavy indexes were the biggest losers after the NASDAQ composite index (.IXIC), opens new tab dropped nearly 1.5% on Tuesday. Futures on the tech-heavy NASDAQ were just 0.2% lower on Wednesday, however, suggesting a calmer open ahead. While there was no major trigger for the selloff in tech stocks, analysts pointed to a confluence of factors, including concerns over high valuations, a general risk-off mood and U.S. President Donald Trump's growing influence over the sector. "I think we were priced for perfection in the U.S. and there was a quite a lot of complacency in markets, so some summer volatility should have been expected," said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at BRADESCO BBI. Trump's influence on the U.S. tech-sector has also been in focus for investors. U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick is looking into the government taking equity stakes in Intel as well as other chip companies, two sources told Reuters. While the individual developments may be brushed aside by markets, they fall into the broader bucket of concerns over the institutional framework in the United States, Laidler said. The potential move comes on the back of other unusual deals Washington has recently struck with U.S. companies, including allowing AI chip giant Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab to sell its H20 chips to China in exchange for the U.S. government receiving 15% of the revenue from those sales. In commodities, Brent crude futures were last up 1.1% at $66.55 a barrel as investors awaited the next steps in talks to end Russia's war on Ukraine, with uncertainty over whether oil sanctions might be eased or tightened. While a meeting between Trump, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and a group of European allies concluded without much fanfare, Trump said the United States would help guarantee Ukraine's security in any deal to end Russia's war there. "The U.S. is not categorically underwriting anything, any security for Ukraine, even if they're open to provide some, because we don't know the conditions under which they will. So there's quite a bit of risk left out there," said Vishnu Varathan, head of macro research for Asia ex-Japan at Mizuho. Elsewhere, Sweden's central bank kept its key interest rate on hold as expected on Wednesday, while the Reserve Bank of New Zealand cut policy rates to a three-year low and signalled further easing, sending the kiwi down by over 1%. The focus is now on the Kansas City Federal Reserve's August 21-23 Jackson Hole symposium, where Fed Chair Jerome Powell is due to speak on the economic outlook and the central bank's policy framework on Friday. Powell's remarks on the near-term outlook for rates will be keenly watched as traders are almost fully pricing in a rate cut next month. The minutes of the Fed's July policy meeting are due later on Wednesday, but are unlikely to spur meaningful market reactions as they pre-date weak U.S. labour market data that spurred a firming of rate cut expectations. The dollar was steady against the euro at $1.1646. Sterling was flat at $1.3498 after rising slightly in immediate reaction to data that showed UK inflation its highest in 18 months in July. The fact this was not even worse meant under-fire British government bonds rallied on the news, with the benchmark 10-year gilt yield down 5 basis points at 4.69%. The 10-year Treasury yield was marginally lower at 4.29%. "We expect the dollar to depreciate largely because US economic performance no longer supports the currency's high valuation, and we think the softening labor market is providing late-summer support to that view," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note. Elsewhere, spot gold rose 0.3% to $3,326.89 an ounce.
Daily Mail
10 minutes ago
- Daily Mail
UK's military chief in Pentagon talks after Donald Trump pledges a NATO-style security guarantee for Ukraine - but British peacekeeping troops 'won't be sent to the frontline'
The UK's top military chief is set to hold meetings in Washington DC today following Donald Trump 's promise of security guarantees for Ukraine. Sir Tony Radakin, the chief of the defence staff, is expected to attend talks at the Pentagon to thrash out how Ukraine would be defended from future attack in the event of a peace deal with Russia. It follows crunch talks at the White House on Monday between the US President and European leaders, including Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky. After the emergency summit in the Oval Office - held in the wake of Mr Trump's talks with Russia's Vladimir Putin in Alaska last week - Sir Keir said there had been a 'common understanding' about a NATO-style security guarantee for Ukraine. The PM added this was an 'Article 5-like guarantee', which could mirror the 'collective defence' clause of the NATO treaty that states that an attack against one NATO ally is considered an attack against all NATO allies. Sir Keir has pledged to put British troops on the ground in Ukraine as part of efforts by the so-called 'coalition of the willing' of Ukrainian allies to help ensure a potential peace agreement with Russia holds. But, during the Pentagon talks on Wednesday between military chiefs from the coalition of the willing and their American counterparts, Sir Tony is expected to state that UK peacekeeping troops would not be on the frontline with Russia. US President Donald Trump told Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday that America would help guarantee Ukraine's security in a deal with Russia A British official told The Guardian: 'Wednesday is a really important moment. 'Nothing happens in Washington without the President giving the green light, so Trump giving his support to security guarantees on Monday kickstarted a lot of activity.' Another said Sir Tony would echo pledges made by Defence Secretary John Healey, who recently said Britain was willing to deploy troops to Ukraine 'to secure the safe skies, safe seas and to build the strength of the Ukrainian forces'. They added that ministers envisaged this as meaning logistical and training support rather than sending battalions of frontline troops who could end up in combat. Security minister Dan Jarvis this morning said the flurry of diplomatic talks in recent days had 'brought the prospect of peace much closer' in Ukraine. Speaking on Times Radio, he said: 'We've always strongly supported Ukraine's integration, both in terms of their potential desire to be members of the European Union and membership of NATO. 'We don't think that any limitation should be placed on Ukraine's armed forces or on its co-operation with third countries, and Russia certainly shouldn't be able to have a veto against Ukraine's pathway to the European Union or NATO.' Mr Jarvis added: 'I think it is important to make the point that very significant progress has been made. 'I think the Alaska summit and the talks in Washington over the previous days have brought the prospect of peace much closer than they had been previously.' But, despite the growing hopes that the three year-long conflict in Ukraine could soon be brought to an end, former Russian prime minister Mikhail Kasyanov warned that Mr Putin is 'absolutely not' ready for peace. He told Times Radio that the Russian leader was 'absolutely not' serious about striking a peace deal, despite Mr Trump's suggestion trilateral meeting - potentially in Budapest - between himself, Mr Putin and Mr Zelensky. 'He doesn't want to have the high-level meeting. He doesn't want to meet to sit down with Zelensky,' Mr Kasyanov, a leading Putin critic, said. 'It will be some of a humiliating event for him. That's why he will be avoiding it. You're correct that the ball is on Putin's court, but he will continue dragging out time, continue his offensive operation, believing that he will win the war of attrition. 'He simply managed to avoid imposing just tough sanctions as a result of Alaska meeting.'
Reuters
11 minutes ago
- Reuters
Gold hovers near three-week lows before Jackson Hole summit
Aug 20 (Reuters) - Gold ticked up on Wednesday but hovered near three-week lows, as investors looked towards the Federal Reserve's July meeting minutes and the Jackson Hole, Wyoming symposium of central bankers this week for cues on further rate cuts. Spot gold was up 0.3% at $3,325.96 per ounce, as of 1009 GMT, after reaching its lowest level since August 1. U.S. gold futures for December delivery rose 0.3% to $3,368.40. The U.S. dollar index (.DXY), opens new tab was steady after climbing to a more than one-week high earlier in the session, making gold more expensive for other currency holders. "Spot gold is likely to adhere to its sideways range until the Fed can resume its rate-cutting cycle, while the dollar's month-to-date resilience is also making it harder for it to embark higher," said Han Tan, chief market analyst at investment trading platform Minutes of the Fed's July meeting, due later in the day, were anticipated to offer further insights into the central bank's economic outlook. "Markets will be looking out for further clues about the dissenting voices from the last FOMC meeting. Gold could even see a slight lift prior to Jackson Hole, should the FOMC minutes show that the dissenting voices at the previous Fed policy meeting were louder than envisioned," Tan added. The Fed chair Jerome Powell is due to speak at the Kansas City Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole symposium on Friday. Gold typically performs well in a low-interest-rate environment and in times of economic and geopolitical uncertainty. On the geopolitical front, U.S. President Donald Trumpruled out deploying ground troops to Ukraine on Tuesday but suggested air support could be part of a deal to end Russia's war in the region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the White House talks were a "major step forward" towards ending the conflict and setting up a trilateral meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump. Elsewhere, spot silver fell 0.8% to $37.06 per ounce, platinum gained 0.8% to $1,316.96 and palladium was down 0.6% at $1,108.30.
