NEWSLETTER
Thursday / September 29Sep 29
Tuesday / March 22
Powell remarks
US Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell on Monday vowed tough action on inflation, as he said it jeopardizes an otherwise strong economic recovery.
“The labor market is very strong, and inflation is much too high,” the central bank chief said.
Reiterating a position the Federal Open Market Committee made Wednesday in its post-meeting statement, Powell said interest rate hikes would continue until inflation is under control. He said the increases could be even higher if necessary than the quarter-percentage point move approved at the meeting.
“We will take the necessary steps to ensure a return to price stability,” he said. “In particular, if we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so. And if we determine that we need to tighten beyond common measures of neutral and into a more restrictive stance, we will do that as well.”
“It continues to seem likely that hoped-for supply-side healing will come over time as the world ultimately settles into some new normal, but the timing and scope of that relief are highly uncertain,” said Powell. “In the meantime, as we set policy, we will be looking to actual progress on these issues and not assuming significant near-term supply-side relief.”
Stocks slipped to their lows of the session after Powell’s remarks while Treasury yields rose.
US stocks
U.S. stocks fell Monday with the major averages hitting their lows of the day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sounded alarms on surging inflation and vowed tough action.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 201.94 points, or 0.6%, to close at 34,552.99. The blue-chip average was down more than 400 points at session lows. The S&P 500 finished marginally lower at 4,461.18, having been up 0.4% at its highs of the day. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.4% to 13,838.46.
Zelensky interview
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war in his country without meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy told European public television networks such a meeting could discuss the future of occupied Ukrainian territory, but more time would be required to resolve the issue.
He also repeated his acknowledgement made earlier this month that Ukraine could not now secure NATO membership.
"I believe that until such time as we have a meeting with the president of the Russian Federation...you cannot truly understand what they are prepared to do in order to stop the war and what they are prepared to do if we are not ready for this or that compromise," Zelenskyy said in the interview.
Zelenskyy has sought a meeting with Putin for nearly a year, but the Russian leader has refused and instead demanded the Ukrainian president resolve his country's "civil war" with separatist territories linked to Moscow.
Biden's cyber warning
US President Biden warned companies that Russia could be planning to launch cyberattacks against critical US infrastructure.
The Biden White House said in a statement that "evolving intelligence" showed Russia is "exploring options for potential cyberattacks."
The potential attacks would be in response to U.S. sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger called for companies to secure their systems, including implementing multifactor authentication, patching systems against known vulnerabilities, backing up data, running drills and engaging with federal authorities before a cyberattack happens.
US Federal Reserve Chair Jay Powell on Monday vowed tough action on inflation, as he said it jeopardizes an otherwise strong economic recovery.
“The labor market is very strong, and inflation is much too high,” the central bank chief said.
Reiterating a position the Federal Open Market Committee made Wednesday in its post-meeting statement, Powell said interest rate hikes would continue until inflation is under control. He said the increases could be even higher if necessary than the quarter-percentage point move approved at the meeting.
“We will take the necessary steps to ensure a return to price stability,” he said. “In particular, if we conclude that it is appropriate to move more aggressively by raising the federal funds rate by more than 25 basis points at a meeting or meetings, we will do so. And if we determine that we need to tighten beyond common measures of neutral and into a more restrictive stance, we will do that as well.”
“It continues to seem likely that hoped-for supply-side healing will come over time as the world ultimately settles into some new normal, but the timing and scope of that relief are highly uncertain,” said Powell. “In the meantime, as we set policy, we will be looking to actual progress on these issues and not assuming significant near-term supply-side relief.”
Stocks slipped to their lows of the session after Powell’s remarks while Treasury yields rose.
US stocks
U.S. stocks fell Monday with the major averages hitting their lows of the day after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell sounded alarms on surging inflation and vowed tough action.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average shed 201.94 points, or 0.6%, to close at 34,552.99. The blue-chip average was down more than 400 points at session lows. The S&P 500 finished marginally lower at 4,461.18, having been up 0.4% at its highs of the day. The Nasdaq Composite dipped 0.4% to 13,838.46.
Zelensky interview
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that it would not be possible to negotiate an end to the war in his country without meeting Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Zelenskyy told European public television networks such a meeting could discuss the future of occupied Ukrainian territory, but more time would be required to resolve the issue.
He also repeated his acknowledgement made earlier this month that Ukraine could not now secure NATO membership.
"I believe that until such time as we have a meeting with the president of the Russian Federation...you cannot truly understand what they are prepared to do in order to stop the war and what they are prepared to do if we are not ready for this or that compromise," Zelenskyy said in the interview.
Zelenskyy has sought a meeting with Putin for nearly a year, but the Russian leader has refused and instead demanded the Ukrainian president resolve his country's "civil war" with separatist territories linked to Moscow.
Biden's cyber warning
US President Biden warned companies that Russia could be planning to launch cyberattacks against critical US infrastructure.
The Biden White House said in a statement that "evolving intelligence" showed Russia is "exploring options for potential cyberattacks."
The potential attacks would be in response to U.S. sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, the White House said.
Deputy National Security Adviser for Cyber and Emerging Technology Anne Neuberger called for companies to secure their systems, including implementing multifactor authentication, patching systems against known vulnerabilities, backing up data, running drills and engaging with federal authorities before a cyberattack happens.
