Why fed targets 2 inflation

BANGKOK, June 25 (Reuters): Thailand's inflation will remain elevated this year but should fall back into the central bank's target range of 1-3% in the second quarter of next year, a bank official had announced, South-East Asia's second-largest economy is expected to return to its pre-pandemic level late this year or early next year, Sakkapop Panyanukul, a senior director at the Bank of Thailand, told a trade seminar. The BOT predicts headline inflation of 6.2% this year and 2.5% next year. Thailand's economy is expected to grow by 3% this year and 3.7% next year, driven by exports, increased domestic demand and a recovery in tourism, the state planning agency had said earlier. Exports, a key driver of growth, still had momentum despite the impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine on the global economy, Danucha Pichayanan, head of the National Economic and Social Development Council, told a business seminar. "The Russia-Ukraine issue is a risk but it's also an opportunity, … [Read more...] about Thai inflation seen back to target in Q2 2023, says central bank; economy expected to grow by 3% in 2022

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Interest Rates On The Rise With interest rates on the move, due to the Fed’s latest rate hike , there are winners and losers galore. One of the areas we haven’t paid much attention to for years is our savings accounts. For most of us, we have been beaten into submission, simply accepting the laughable interest we’ve been getting. If you’ve been with a traditional bank the savings interest rate has been, well, insulting. Some banks have been paying as low as 0.1% on some of their savings accounts. How Your Savings Account May Change What has changed is with the Fed’s announcement of a .25% rate increase, banks will have to adjust to keep up. Of course, lending rates will increase as well, but the big winner here is your cash savings rates. When the Fed increases their rates, banks in lockstep will increase what they are paying to park money at their bank, generally speaking. Essentially, it is exactly the outcome the … [Read more...] about What Rising Interest Rates Mean For Your Savings Accounts

Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Stocks continued their descent last week, with the S&P 500 now well into bear market territory at -23% from the high. While most define bear markets as a decline of 20% from the high, some pullbacks just kiss that level or don’t result in widespread carnage across all sectors. What we saw last week certainly qualifies the current situation as a “real” bear market. First, the S&P 500 was down almost 11% during the previous two weeks. Secondly, all sectors participated in the sell-off. Whether it is “profit-taking” or “selling what you can rather than what you want to,” this indiscriminate liquidation is the hallmark of a bear market. For example, energy stocks, which had been almost impervious to the market weakness this year, declined 17% last week! That still leaves energy up 31% and the only sector in the green year-to-date. Utilities, which were only slightly lower before last week, underperformed the market over … [Read more...] about Welcome To The Real Bear Market

(Representative image: Reuters) Dear Reader, A whiff of change wafted through the markets this week. The focus shifted from worrying over inflation to concerns about growth. The advance Purchasing Managers Indices (PMIs) for the current month for the US and the Eurozone showed slowing growth, but while they indicated inflation was cooling in the US, it continued to rise relentlessly in the Eurozone. They also reflected stalling demand and falling business confidence. The New York Fed’s economic model predicted an 80 percent chance of a hard landing for the US. UK consumer confidence hit a record low. In China, housing starts and property transactions reached extreme lows. The worries over an imminent recession in the US, the UK and the Eurozone sent commodity prices sharply lower. Copper prices have moved down dramatically. My colleague Ravi Ananthanarayanan wrote about the dark clouds hovering over steel . Crude oil prices too fell. That dissipated some of the … [Read more...] about MC Pro Weekender | A new narrative

Wall Street, New York City (File image: Reuters) Wall Street's main indices soared on Friday in a broad rally as signs of slowing economic growth and a recent pullback in commodity prices tempered expectations for the Federal Reserve's rate-hike plans. The S&P 500 rose over 3% for its biggest one-day percentage rise since May 2020. All 11 of the benchmark index's sectors ended at least 1.5% higher. Stocks rebounded this week as financial markets have been roiled over worries that rapid rate hikes by the Fed to rein in 40-year-high inflation could cause a recession. Still, investors have been gauging when the market might hit its bottom after the benchmark S&P 500 earlier this month recorded a 20% drop from its January closing peak, confirming the common definition of a bear market. "Some of the moves, the sellers just get exhausted so you don’t have as much capital moving out," said Shawn Cruz, head trading strategist at TD Ameritrade. "This might be a … [Read more...] about Wall Street mints big gains to end a strong week

Wall Street's main indexes rose over 1% on Friday as signs of slowing economic growth and falling commodity prices tempered expectations over how high the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates to rein in inflation. Global financial markets have been roiled this month on worries that rapid rate hikes by major central banks could cause a recession, with the benchmark S&P 500 (.SPX) confirming a bear market last week as it recorded a 20% drop from its January closing peak. The three main indexes on Friday looked set to notch their first weekly gain in four, boosted by megacap growth stocks and defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities seen as safer bets during times of economic uncertainty. "Conversations about the U.S. economy likely slowing which could lessen the hawkishness of the Fed, combined with lower commodity prices and bond yields - these are reasons investors are mentioning to justify why we could experience a near-term bounce," said Sam Stovall, … [Read more...] about Wall Street rallies as traders dial back rate-hike bets

Nilekani, in his Chairman’s address, stressed on the company’s One Infosys Approach, saying it helped the company deliver its fastest growth in a decade. Challenges such as slowing growth, supply chain disruptions, soaring inflation, rapidly rising interest rates, and fears of a recession present an opportunity to transition to new ways to gain market share, Infosys Chairman Nandan Nilekani said on June 25. Addressing shareholders at the company’s 41st Annual General Meeting, Nilekani said, corporate leaders are having to deal with challenges in a post-pandemic world, and along with the above challenges, there is potential to help them. The AGM’s agenda — along with approving of financial statements — also included the reappointment of CEO Salil Parekh and the approval of his new compensation. Salil Parekh’s proposed compensation, for his second term till March 2027, is Rs 79.75 crore annually, up 88 percent from FY22. Shareholders approved his salary hike, making him one of … [Read more...] about Challenges present opportunity for Infosys to gain market share: Nandan Nilekani

Infy's market cap after peaking at $110 billion in January is around $79 billion now, more than double what it was when Salil Parekh took charge. By approving a mega-compensation package for Salil Parekh, its CEO for the last four-and-a-half years, Infosys isn’t just rewarding his performance but also correcting a historical wrong. In 2017, Parekh was brought in after the messy exit of previous CEO Vishal Sikka. Through all the sparks that flew in the months leading up to the eventual transition, it was Sikka’s high salary that was the bone of contention. The fact is, notwithstanding co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’s disagreements with Sikka over the issue, the company’s investors clearly were impressed with his performance, enough for its share price to rise 26 percent in the three years that he was at the helm. Nor was this part of a secular rise in IT stocks. During that period, Infosys was the outperformer in the stock market with shares of the other four Indian IT companies … [Read more...] about Salil Parekh’s salary is merely a reflection of Infosys’ performance

US President Joe Biden (right) being greeted by Bavaria Prime Minister Markus Soeder (centre) upon arriving at Munich Airport on June 25, 2022 ahead of the Group of Seven summit in Munich, Germany. - A + A SCHLOSS ELMAU (June 26): German Chancellor Olaf Scholz is set to welcome leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) rich democracies on Sunday to a three-day summit in the Bavarian Alps overshadowed by the war in Ukraine and its far-reaching consequences, from energy shortages to a food crisis. The summit takes place against a darker backdrop than last year when the British, Canadian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, and US leaders met for the first time since before the Covid-19 pandemic and vowed to build back better. Soaring global energy and food prices are hitting economic growth in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The United Nations warned on Friday of an "unprecedented global hunger crisis". Climate change, an increasingly assertive China, and … [Read more...] about G7 summit kicks off under shadow of Ukraine war, stagflation risk