25 Mins Ago
Yen continues to strengthen after Japan largest union agrees to 6.7% wage hike
The Japanese yen continued to strengthen against the U.S. dollar, a day after it hit a month high.
The yen hit 147.57 on Friday, its strongest level since Feb. 1. On Thursday, Japan’s biggest industrial union group, UA Zensen, reportedly said employers have agreed to hike wages by 6.7% for full-time workers as part of the annual spring wage negotiations.
Higher wages are a prerequisite for the Bank of Japan to start unwinding its ultra easy monetary policy, which could lead to rate hikes and a stronger yen.
An Hour Ago
Japan household spending falls 6.3% in January
The Bank of Japan headquarters (top C) is seen in Tokyo on December 19, 2023.
Kazuhiro Nogi | Afp | Getty Images
Spending by households in Japan with two or more people fell 6.3% year on year in January, official data showed Friday.
It was down for the 11th consecutive month. The reading was also much lower than a Reuters poll forecast of a 4.3% decline.
On a month-on-month basis, household spending unexpectedly fell 2.1%, compared with a Reuters poll estimate of a 0.4% rise.
— Shreyashi Sanyal
2 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: Missed the Nvidia rally? These 10 companies are buying its chips — and their stocks are rallying
Shares of Nvidia have risen 280% over the past year thanks to surging sales of its chips that power artificial intelligence applications.
However, the Silicon Valley company isn’t alone in the AI-fueled rally. Investors are also ploughing their money into companies buying these chips, amid expectations that AI will help improve productivity and profits.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read about the Nvidia customers whose stock is rallying.
— Ganesh Rao
2 Hours Ago
CNBC Pro: These stocks already rallied in 2023 — but Goldman Sachs says they still have over 30% upside
2023 marked a strong run in stocks — and markets are still running hot so far this year.
The S&P 500 spiked around 24% in 2023, recovering from a bear market in 2022. Stocks around the world also made gains, with the the FTSE All World Ex U.S. index jumping 16.2% in 2023.
CNBC Pro trawled through Goldman’s analyst research as well as latest global conviction lists, to find stocks that made significant gains in 2023, but still have more than 30% potential upside in 2024, based on the bank’s latest price targets.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Weizhen Tan
4 Hours Ago
Oil prices edge lower as market weights interest rate outlook
A pump jack operates in front of a drilling rig at sunset in an oil field in Midland, Texas U.S. August 22, 2018.
Nick Oxford | Reuters
Oil prices edged lower Thursday, giving up some of the previous session’s gains.
The West Texas Intermediate contract for April lost 20 cents, or 0.25%, to settle at $78.93 a barrel. May Brent futures shed 21 cents, or 0.25%, to $82.77 a barrel.
U.S. crude and the global benchmark gained more than 1% on Wednesday after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell told Congress that interest rates have likely peaked and are expected to come down this year, although the central bank is taking a cautious approach given an uncertain economic outlook.
In a second day of testimony, Powell told the Senate Banking Committee Thursday that the Fed is “not far” from the point of cutting rates, so long as inflation moves sustainably at 2%.
Powell’s testimony before Congress provided the oil market with an adrenaline rush, but his cautious approach on rates ultimately dented traders’ enthusiasm, Tamas Varga, an analyst at broker PVM, wrote Thursday.
— Spencer Kimball
9 Hours Ago
Powell says Fed ‘not far from’ being ready to cut rates
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell arrives to testify during the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing titled “The Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress,” in Dirksen Building on Thursday, March 7, 2024.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said inflation is nearing the point where officials would feel comfortable about cutting interest rates.
“We’re waiting to become more confident that inflation is moving sustainably at 2%. When we do get that confidence, and we’re not far from it, it will be appropriate to begin to dial back the level of restriction,” Powell said Thursday during testimony before the Senate Banking Committee.
He noted that cuts would be necessary “so that we don’t, you know, drive the economy into recession rather than normalizing policy as the economy gets back to normal.”
—Jeff Cox
9 Hours Ago
Fed’s Mester sees greater danger in cutting rates prematurely
Loretta Mester speaking at Jackson Hole, August 25, 2023.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Cleveland Federal Reserve President worries more about cutting rates too quickly than keeping them elevated for too long.
In a speech Thursday, the central bank official called reducing too quickly “the bigger mistake” compared to waiting too long to track the path of inflation. The Fed seeks 2% inflation, and Mester and other officials have said that progress is being made but they’re not convinced enough yet to start easing.
“Doing so would undermine all of the good work that has gone into getting inflation to this point,” she said in prepared remarks. “We don’t want to find ourselves in a situation where we begin easing too soon, undo some of the progress we have made on inflation, potentially destabilize inflation expectations, and then have to reverse course. And with labor markets and economic growth both being very solid, we don’t need to take that risk.”
Mester is a voting member this year of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.
—Jeff Cox