By Mike Dolan
LONDON (Reuters) – What matters in U.S. and global markets today
By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets
With a first Federal Reserve interest rate cut of 2025 now considered to be in the bag, world markets are hungry for signals on how much more comes after. This has allowed the dollar to stabilize at four-year lows against the euro ahead of today’s decision.
U.S. stocks also stalled on Tuesday and futures were flat ahead of today’s bell, with Fed rate cut bets now gravitating to exactly 25 basis points after news of roaring 5% annual retail sales growth in August helped put the kibosh on thoughts of a bigger move this week. Gold backed off too. That didn’t stop U.S. long bonds rallying further, however. Helped by brisk demand for 20-year debt at Tuesday’s auction, the 30-year yield hit a 4-1/2 month low of 4.62% ahead of the Fed announcement.
In today’s column, I take a look at whether the Fed might soon start stimulating an already healthy economy and explore how challenging it is to determine exactly where “neutral” truly is.
Today’s Market Minute
* President Donald Trump on Tuesday announced an agreement between the U.S. and China to keep TikTok operating in the United States, with three sources familiar with the matter saying the deal was similar to one discussed earlier this year.
* Britain and the United States have agreed a technology pact to boost ties in AI, quantum computing and civil nuclear energy. The “Tech Prosperity Deal” is part of U.S. President Donald Trump’s second state visit to Britain, which formally begins on Wednesday.
* President Donald Trump’s renewed push to nix quarterly corporate disclosures, a drive that went nowhere in his first administration, has a better chance this time as the White House takes more control of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s agenda.
* The Trump administration has made it clear that they think Chair Jay Powell’s team has done a poor job with inflation control. Eurizon SLJ asset management CEO Stephen Jen argues that the president may have a point.
* The rush to hedge U.S. equity exposure this year was initially seen as part of a broad ‘de-dollarization’ process. But, writes ROI markets columnist Jamie McGeever, as the months go by and U.S. stocks roar to fresh tech-fueled highs, this theory seems to be crumbling.
Chart of the day
There may be many reasons why the Fed decides to resume policy easing with its first interest rate cut of the year on Wednesday – but the current pace of GDP growth, booming retail sales, the loosest financial conditions in more than three years and inflation still far above target are not among them.
Today’s events to watch
* U.S. August housing starts/permits (8:30 AM EDT)
* Bank of Canada policy decision (9:45 AM EDT) and press conference (10:30 AM EDT)
* U.S. Federal Reserve’s policy decision and updated economic and rate projections (2:00 PM EDT), press conference (2:30 PM EDT)
* European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde speaks
* U.S. President Donald Trump visits Britain
* U.S. corporate earnings: General Mills, Progressive
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Opinions expressed are those of the author. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.
(by Mike Dolan; editing by Alex Richardson)
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