Latest news with #DanielSkelly
Los Angeles Times
08-08-2025
- Business
- Los Angeles Times
Wall Street clocks another winning week
NEW YORK — U.S. stocks closed higher Friday, capping a choppy week of trading with the market's third winning week in the last four and another milestone. The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 0.8%, finishing just shy of the record it set last week. The benchmark index also wiped out its losses from a slide last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite added 1% to the all-time high it set a day earlier. Technology companies, with their hefty stock values, did much of the heavy lifting for the market. Nvidia rose 1.1% and Apple gained 4.2%. Gilead Sciences jumped 8.3% for one of the market's biggest gains. It reported financial results that easily beat analysts' forecasts, while also raising its earnings forecast for the year. Expedia Group rose 4.1% after also reporting encouraging financial results. They are among the final big batch of companies within the S&P 500 to report mostly strong financial results for the second quarter. Still, many have warned that current tariffs could cut into their profits. Financial sector stocks also helped drive the market higher. Bank of America gained 2.4% and Mastercard rose 2.3%. Elsewhere in the market, entertainment giant Paramount Skydance slid 10.5% a day after the company was created by the closing of an $8 billion merger of Skydance and Paramount. Shares in rival Warner Bros. Discovery sank 8%. The main focus throughout the week has been on President Trump's trade war and its potential impact on the U.S. economy, as well as the Federal Reserve's interest rate policy. Trump began imposing higher import taxes on dozens of countries Thursday. Still, the market appeared to largely shrug off the latest tariff escalation. 'The S&P 500's rebound this week may highlight the extent to which the market is becoming numb to tariff headlines,' said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team. The unknown path of the economy amid an unpredictable tariff policy has been the key reason for the Fed to hold its benchmark interest rate steady. Fed Chair Jerome Powell, though, has been under increasing pressure from Trump to cut interest rates. Policy decisions aren't made solely by the Fed chair. All 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee vote on interest rate changes. Trump has an opportunity to exert more control over the Fed following his nomination of Stephen Miran to a vacancy on the Fed's board of governors. Miran is a top economic adviser to Trump and is a near-certain vote in support of lower interest rates. The Fed's last decision to hold interest rates steady included two votes to lower interest rates. Its next meeting is in September, and Wall Street is overwhelmingly betting that the central bank will cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point. Treasury yields edged higher. The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.25% late Thursday. The yield on the two-year Treasury which more closely tracks expectations for Fed actions, rose to 3.76% from 3.73% late Thursday. The expectation for an interest rate cut follows a series of signals last week that the economy could be weakening. That included reports showing that inflation edged higher in June and employers in the U.S. hit the brakes on hiring in July. Both are key concerns for the Fed, which has been trying to cool inflation down to its target rate of 2% while also fulfilling its 'full employment' mandate. Lower interest rates can give the economy and investment prices a boost, though the downside is that they can also push inflation higher. Concerns about inflation reheating could be overshadowed by worries about a weakening employment market. Wall Street and the Fed will get more insight next week on inflation's temperature and the economy. The government will release updates on inflation at both the consumer and wholesale levels, along with a report on retail sales. 'We believe stocks will stay supported amid solid fundamentals, but fresh headlines in the coming week may challenge investor sentiment that remains vulnerable to tariff, economic, and geopolitical risks,' said Ulrike Hoffmann-Burchardi, chief investment officer for the Americas and global head of equities at UBS Global Wealth Management. All told, the S&P 500 rose 49.45 points to 6,389.45. The Dow rose 206.97 points to 44,175.61, and the Nasdaq rose 207.32 points to finish at 21,450.02. Asian markets closed mostly lower except in Tokyo, where the Nikkei rose 1.9% after Japan's main trade envoy said the U.S. had agreed to correct a problem over tariffs that will apply to exports to the U.S. European markets were mixed. Troise and Veiga write for the Associated Press.
Yahoo
06-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Asian Stocks Rise as Wall Street Extends Gains: Markets Wrap
(Bloomberg) -- Asian equities advanced Thursday after stocks and bonds rose on Wall Street in a week marred by tariffs, lackluster tech earnings and uneven US economic data. State Farm Seeks Emergency California Rate Hike After Fires Transportation Memos Favor Places With Higher Birth and Marriage Rates Citadel to Leave Namesake Chicago Tower as Employees Relocate NYC's Newest Transit Leader Builds a Worker-Driven Strategy San Francisco Wants Wealthy Donors to Help Fix Fentanyl Crisis Shares in Australia and Japan opened higher, while equity futures for Hong Kong also rose. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 both notched a second day of gains on Wednesday, extending a rebound from Monday's decline. Treasuries were stable in early Asian trading after rallying across the curve Wednesday. The US 10-year yield dropped nine basis points to 4.42% during the session while the policy-sensitive two-year yield declined three basis points to 4.18% — both the lowest since the middle of December. Australian yields fell early Thursday. Lower yields weighed on the dollar. An index of greenback strength fell 0.2% to the lowest level in a week, undoing the gains spurred on by news of Donald Trump's tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China over the past week that initially boosted demand for defensive assets. The yen was steady after strengthening against the dollar in the prior session. 'Volatility has been the story this week, with the stock market trying to find its footing as it navigates a shifting tariff landscape and mixed earnings,' said Daniel Skelly, head of Morgan Stanley's Wealth Management Market Research & Strategy Team. The moves were partly the result of data that showed weaker-than-expected demand for services. The slowdown suggests activity may moderate in coming months as some Americans tighten their belts against a backdrop of the high cost of living. Separate data showed employment at US companies picked up in January by more than forecast and comes ahead of Friday's closely-watched jobs report. Federal Reserve officials are closely tracking developments in the jobs market as they assess how much to lower interest rates this year. A rapid pickup in the unemployment rate last summer was a key driver behind policymakers' decision to lower rates by a full percentage point in 2024. That said, the job market has showed renewed strength since then, with Fed Chair Jerome Powell describing it last week as 'pretty stable.' Meanwhile, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the Trump administration's focus with regard to bringing down borrowing costs is 10-year Treasury yields, rather than the Federal Reserve's benchmark short-term interest rate. In commodities, gold was steady after touching a record high Wednesday amid concerns over tightness in the market. US oil fell more than 2% Wednesday. Saudi Arabia increased the price of its flagship crude to Asia as the kingdom responds to surging premiums for Middle Eastern crude and improving refinery margins. 'Uncertainty is not good when it comes to the outlook for demand,' said Tamar Essner, principal for Vectis Energy Partners, speaking on Bloomberg Television. 'Particularly in an environment when Chinese demand, the lynchpin of the demand growth story, is already under question.' Data set for release in Asia includes trade balance figures for Australia, and inflation for Vietnam and Thailand. The Bank of Japan's Naoki Tamura is also set to speak later Thursday. In Europe, the Bank of England is expected to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.5%. Elsewhere in Asia, China has sought talks with the US at the World Trade Organization following the 10% tariffs placed on Chinese imports. In a document circulated Wednesday China said the moves by the US were 'imposed on the basis of unfounded and false allegations.' Gains for US stocks came despite the biggest drop in more than a year for Alphabet Inc. following underwhelming earnings results. The drop weighed on a gauge of the Magnificent Seven. Elsewhere, Advanced Micro Devices Inc. tumbled 6.3% on a disappointing outlook. In late hours, Qualcomm Inc. rose on a bullish sales forecast. Arm Holdings Plc gave a tepid estimate. Ford Motor Co. warned that profit may fall. Nvidia Corp. rose, but remains far from the record levels touched last month, before DeepSeek's emergence as an AI threat wiped half a trillion dollars of value off the chipmaker's market capitalization. Legendary short seller Jim Chanos says no one can see the biggest risks facing US markets over the next six to 12 months — because the challenges are going to be unpredictable events. 'The real risks will be something like DeepSeek that comes out of left field that changes people's thinking,' Chanos said in an interview with Bloomberg TV Wednesday. 'By definition, we do not know what that is.' Key events this week: Eurozone retail sales, Thursday UK rate decision, Thursday US initial jobless claims, Thursday Fed's Christopher Waller, Lorie Logan speak, Thursday Amazon earnings, Thursday US nonfarm payrolls, unemployment, University of Michigan consumer sentiment, Friday Fed's Michelle Bowman, Adriana Kugler speak, Friday Some of the main moves in markets: Stocks S&P 500 futures were little changed as of 8:22 a.m. Tokyo time Hang Seng futures rose 0.2% Australia's S&P/ASX 200 rose 0.8% Currencies The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index fell 0.2% The euro was little changed at $1.0402 The Japanese yen was little changed at 152.56 per dollar The offshore yuan was little changed at 7.2822 per dollar The Australian dollar was little changed at $0.6287 Cryptocurrencies Bitcoin fell 0.3% to $96,685.9 Ether fell 0.6% to $2,771.33 Bonds Australia's 10-year yield declined five basis points to 4.31% Commodities West Texas Intermediate crude rose 0.2% to $71.19 a barrel Spot gold was little changed This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation. 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