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Economic Times
19-07-2025
- Business
- Economic Times
Equities little changed; US yields dip as investors look to tariffs, earnings, economic data
MSCI's global equity index advanced slightly while U.S. Treasury yields dipped and Wall Street equities were barely changed on Friday as investors waited for corporate earnings and monitored the latest U.S. tariff threats while they digested a mixed economic picture. U.S. consumer sentiment improved in July and inflation expectations declined, but households still saw substantial risk of price pressures increasing, the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers released on Friday showed. Another report showed U.S. single-family homebuilding dropped to an 11-month low in June as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty hindered home purchases, suggesting residential investment contracted again in the second quarter. ADVERTISEMENT On Thursday, news of stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales and a drop in jobless claims suggested modest improvements in economic activity and helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record closing highs. On Friday, the mood dimmed after the Financial Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% on the European Union. The report said he was unmoved by the latest EU offer to reduce car tariffs and would keep those duties at 25% as planned. "Tariff headlines this afternoon reminded investors that volatility is likely to persist through the start of August." said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures. "Investors may be taking some money off the table going into the weekend given lingering tariff uncertainty and a market that has a premium valuation after reaching new highs." She noted that these concerns were on display in shares of American Express and Netflix, which both fell on solid earnings reports and forecasts after reaching high valuations ahead of the results. Netflix ended down 5% while Amex fell 2.3%. Still, many investors had high hopes for upcoming earnings and made bullish bets ahead of July equity option expirations, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts. "Today's action is all about option expiration as investors make bets on the meat of earnings season, which comes in the next few weeks when all the growth and technology companies report," said Zaro, noting that beyond earnings, investors want to benefit from a strong performance trend in megacap names. "There's a fear of missing out." On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142.30 points, or 0.32%, to 44,342.19, the S&P 500 fell 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 6,296.79 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 10.01 points, or 0.05%, to 20,895.66. For the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.59%, the Nasdaq rose 1.51%, and the Dow fell 0.07%. ADVERTISEMENT MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.18 points, or 0.13%, to 927.47, hitting a record high earlier in the day. Earlier, Europe's STOXX 600 index closed down 0.01%, and was off 0.06% for the week. In currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped against the euro but was showing a weekly gain, as investors weighed central bank policy amid signs that tariffs may be starting to fuel inflation pressures and as Trump continued to publicly criticize Fed Chair Jerome Powell. ADVERTISEMENT The euro pared some gains after a Financial Times report on a toughening U.S. stance on European import tariffs. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.05% to 98.46. The euro was last up 0.27% at $1.1626. ADVERTISEMENT Against the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.09% to 148.73 as polls showed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition was in danger of losing its majority in an election on Sunday. In government bonds, U.S. Treasuries prices rose, dragging their yields lower, after comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller pushed for a rate cut later this month, while technical buying also contributed to the move higher. In contrast, most officials who have spoken publicly have indicated a desire to hold rates steady and traders are betting on a 95.3% probability that rates will stay where they are after the month-end meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3.9 basis points to 4.424%, from 4.463% late on Thursday while the 30-year bond yield fell 1.8 basis points to 4.9958% from 5.014%. ADVERTISEMENT The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.4 basis points to 3.873%, from 3.917% late on Thursday. In commodities, crude oil futures held steady as mixed U.S. economic news offset worries the European Union's latest sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine could reduce oil supplies. U.S. crude settled down 0.3%, or 20 cents at $67.34 a barrel while Brent ended at $69.28 per barrel, down 0.35% or 24 cents on the day. Gold prices rose on Friday as a weaker U.S. dollar and ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while platinum prices eased after reaching their highest level since 2014. Spot gold rose 0.33% to $3,349.66 an ounce.
Time of India
19-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
Equities little changed; US yields dip as investors look to tariffs, earnings, economic data
Live Events (You can now subscribe to our (You can now subscribe to our ETMarkets WhatsApp channel MSCI's global equity index advanced slightly while U.S. Treasury yields dipped and Wall Street equities were barely changed on Friday as investors waited for corporate earnings and monitored the latest U.S. tariff threats while they digested a mixed economic picture. U.S. consumer sentiment improved in July and inflation expectations declined, but households still saw substantial risk of price pressures increasing, the University of Michigan's Surveys of Consumers released on Friday showed. Another report showed U.S. single-family homebuilding dropped to an 11-month low in June as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty hindered home purchases, suggesting residential investment contracted again in the second Thursday, news of stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales and a drop in jobless claims suggested modest improvements in economic activity and helped push the S&P 500 and Nasdaq to record closing highs. On Friday, the mood dimmed after the Financial Times reported that U.S. President Donald Trump is pushing for a minimum tariff of 15% to 20% on the European Union. The report said he was unmoved by the latest EU offer to reduce car tariffs and would keep those duties at 25% as planned."Tariff headlines this afternoon reminded investors that volatility is likely to persist through the start of August." said Lindsey Bell, chief investment strategist at 248 Ventures. "Investors may be taking some money off the table going into the weekend given lingering tariff uncertainty and a market that has a premium valuation after reaching new highs." She noted that these concerns were on display in shares of American Express and Netflix, which both fell on solid earnings reports and forecasts after reaching high valuations ahead of the results. Netflix ended down 5% while Amex fell 2.3%.Still, many investors had high hopes for upcoming earnings and made bullish bets ahead of July equity option expirations, said Bruce Zaro, managing director at Granite Wealth Management in Plymouth, Massachusetts."Today's action is all about option expiration as investors make bets on the meat of earnings season, which comes in the next few weeks when all the growth and technology companies report," said Zaro, noting that beyond earnings, investors want to benefit from a strong performance trend in megacap names. "There's a fear of missing out." On Wall Street the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 142.30 points, or 0.32%, to 44,342.19, the S&P 500 fell 0.57 points, or 0.01%, to 6,296.79 and the Nasdaq Composite rose 10.01 points, or 0.05%, to 20, the week, the S&P 500 gained 0.59%, the Nasdaq rose 1.51%, and the Dow fell 0.07%.MSCI's gauge of stocks across the globe rose 1.18 points, or 0.13%, to 927.47, hitting a record high earlier in the Europe's STOXX 600 index closed down 0.01%, and was off 0.06% for the week. In currencies, the U.S. dollar slipped against the euro but was showing a weekly gain, as investors weighed central bank policy amid signs that tariffs may be starting to fuel inflation pressures and as Trump continued to publicly criticize Fed Chair Jerome euro pared some gains after a Financial Times report on a toughening U.S. stance on European import dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of currencies including the yen and the euro, fell 0.05% to 98.46. The euro was last up 0.27% at $ the Japanese yen, the dollar strengthened 0.09% to 148.73 as polls showed Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba's coalition was in danger of losing its majority in an election on Sunday. In government bonds, U.S. Treasuries prices rose, dragging their yields lower, after comments from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller pushed for a rate cut later this month, while technical buying also contributed to the move higher. In contrast, most officials who have spoken publicly have indicated a desire to hold rates steady and traders are betting on a 95.3% probability that rates will stay where they are after the month-end meeting, according to CME Group's FedWatch yield on benchmark U.S. 10-year notes fell 3.9 basis points to 4.424%, from 4.463% late on Thursday while the 30-year bond yield fell 1.8 basis points to 4.9958% from 5.014%.The 2-year note yield, which typically moves in step with interest rate expectations for the Federal Reserve, fell 4.4 basis points to 3.873%, from 3.917% late on Thursday. In commodities, crude oil futures held steady as mixed U.S. economic news offset worries the European Union's latest sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine could reduce oil supplies. U.S. crude settled down 0.3%, or 20 cents at $67.34 a barrel while Brent ended at $69.28 per barrel, down 0.35% or 24 cents on the day. Gold prices rose on Friday as a weaker U.S. dollar and ongoing geopolitical and economic uncertainty boosted demand for the safe-haven metal, while platinum prices eased after reaching their highest level since 2014. Spot gold rose 0.33% to $3,349.66 an ounce.
The Star
18-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
U.S. consumer sentiment virtually unchanged in July
WASHINGTON, July 18 (Xinhua) -- U.S. consumer sentiment was virtually unchanged in July, according to preliminary data released Friday by the University of Michigan. The widely watched consumer sentiment index inched up marginally to 61.8 from the previous month's 60.7. While sentiment reached its highest value in five months, it remains a substantial 16 percent below December 2024 and is well below its historical average, the report found. Short-run business conditions improved about 8 percent, whereas expected personal finances fell back about 4 percent. "Consumers are unlikely to regain their confidence in the economy unless they feel assured that inflation is unlikely to worsen, for example if trade policy stabilizes for the foreseeable future," said Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan's monthly Surveys of Consumers. "At this time, the interviews reveal little evidence that other policy developments, including the recent passage of the tax and spending bill, moved the needle much on consumer sentiment," Hsu said. Year-ahead inflation expectations fell for a second straight month, plunging from 5 percent last month to 4.4 percent this month. Long-run inflation expectations receded for the third consecutive month, falling back from 4 percent in June to 3.6 percent in July. Both readings are the lowest since February 2025 but remain above December 2024, "indicating that consumers still perceive substantial risk that inflation will increase in the future," Hsu said.
Time of India
18-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
US consumer sentiment improves in July
U.S. consumer sentiment improved in July, and while inflation expectations continued to decline, households still saw substantial risk of price pressures increasing in the future. The University of Michigan 's Surveys of Consumers on Friday said its Consumer Sentiment Index rose to 61.8 this month from a final reading of 60.7 in June. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the index would increase to 61.5. Explore courses from Top Institutes in Select a Course Category Finance others Others Management Project Management Data Science CXO PGDM Leadership Digital Marketing Data Science healthcare Cybersecurity MBA Public Policy Product Management Design Thinking Degree Healthcare Artificial Intelligence MCA Technology Operations Management Data Analytics Skills you'll gain: Duration: 9 Months IIM Calcutta SEPO - IIMC CFO India Starts on undefined Get Details Skills you'll gain: Duration: 7 Months S P Jain Institute of Management and Research CERT-SPJIMR Fintech & Blockchain India Starts on undefined Get Details "Consumers are unlikely to regain their confidence in the economy unless they feel assured that inflation is unlikely to worsen, for example if trade policy stabilizes for the foreseeable future," Joanne Hsu, the director of the Surveys of Consumers, said in a statement. "At this time, the interviews reveal little evidence that other policy developments, including the recent passage of the tax and spending bill , moved the needle much on consumer sentiment." Consumers' 12-month inflation expectations dropped to 4.4% from 5.0% in June. Long-run inflation expectations fell to 3.6% from 4.0% last month. "Both readings are the lowest since February 2025 but remain above December 2024, indicating that consumers still perceive substantial risk that inflation will increase in the future," Hsu said. Live Events
The Star
27-06-2025
- Business
- The Star
UM consumer sentiment index rises for first time in 6 months
CHICAGO, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The Consumer Sentiment Index released Friday by the University of Michigan Surveys of Consumers rose to 60.7 in the June 2025 survey, up from 52.2 in May and below last June's 68.2. The UM consumer sentiment has improved for the first time in six months. The Current Index rose to 64.8 in June, up from 58.9 in May and below last June's 65.9; the Expectations Index rose to 58.1, up from 47.9 in May and below last June's 69.6. Labor market expectations improved in June but remain considerably worse than at the beginning of the year. About 57 percent of consumers expect unemployment to rise in the year ahead, down from 66 percent in March but still much higher than the 40 percent seen in December 2024. Expectations for consumers' own income growth improved modestly in June, but June readings were worse than six months ago. Expectations for personal finances soared 17 percent from near historic lows in May but were 17 percent below December 2024. Beliefs about the anticipated effects of tariffs have shaped consumers' views of the economy this year. In June, about 59 percent of consumers provided unsolicited comments about tariffs, down from 66 percent in May but marking three consecutive months a majority of consumers did so. The share of consumers expecting business conditions to worsen in the year ahead fell from 64 percent in May but stood high at 55 percent, compared with just 29 percent in November 2024. "Consumers feel they have some breathing room given that the historically high tariffs announced earlier this year have not been sustained, and the worst-case scenarios for the economy have not come to fruition," said economist Joanne Hsu, director of the University of Michigan's Survey of Consumers. "However, consumers still worry that higher inflation and an economic slowdown are on the horizon, and they remain very cautious." The Surveys of Consumers is a rotating panel survey based on a nationally representative sample that gives each household in the coterminous United States an equal probability of being selected. Interviews are conducted throughout the month by telephone.
