Fed Rates

US stock futures, though, were lower in Asian hours, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose over 1 per cent pushing Asian stocks higher

Trump has frequently excoriated current Fed chief Jerome Powell for failing to lower rates swiftly and signalled he wants a chair who will more forcefully pursue cuts

Bessent has narrowed the search for a successor to Fed Chair Jerome Powell, whose leadership term expires in May, to five from as many as 11, and said in an interview with CNBC

The Sensex declined up to 0.51 per cent to an intraday low of 84,042.75, while the Nifty50 slipped 0.44 per cent to 25,764.90.

The domestic currency opened 14 paise lower at 87.95 against the greenback on Thursday

Much of the focus last week was on elevated long-end bond yields across the globe as investors fretted about the state of various countries' finances from Britain and France to Japan

Sensex Today | Stock market closing highlights, Aug 25: In the broader markets, Nifty MidCap 100 was up 0.12 per cent, while SmallCap was down 0.04 per cent

Asian shares were mixed on Thursday after days of gains driven by hopes for lower US interest rates, while US futures slipped. Bitcoin rose more than 3 per cent to a new record of over USD 1,23,000, according to CoinDesk. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.4 per cent to 42,657.94 as investors sold to lock in recent gains that have taken the benchmark to all-time records. The Japanese yen rose against the dollar after US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in an interview with Bloomberg that Japan was behind the curve in monetary tightening. He was referring to the slow pace of increases in Japan's near-zero interest rates. Low interest rates tend to make the yen weaker against the dollar, giving Japanese exporters a cost advantage in overseas sales. The dollar fell to 146.55 Japanese yen early Thursday, down from 147.39 yen. The euro fell to USD 1.1703 from USD 1.1705. In Chinese markets, Hong Kong's Hang Seng index shed less than 0.1 per cent to 25,597.85, while the Shanghai comp

Citigroup and Wells Fargo also expect the Fed to cut rates by 75 basis points in 2025, while UBS Global Research forecasts 100 basis points of reduction

The prospect of high inflation stemming from widespread tariffs along with weaker hiring could put the Federal Reserve in a difficult spot, Fed policymakers said in minutes from last month's meeting. The minutes, released Wednesday, said that the Fed could keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged if inflation remained stubbornly elevated. And they said it could cut its rate if growth slowed and unemployment rose. The minutes were for the Fed's March 18-19 meeting. But if both happened at the same time, the Fed may face difficult tradeoffs, some of the 19 officials on the central bank's interest-rate setting committee said. Rising unemployment can often lead to a recession, when the Fed would normally slash its key rate to support more borrowing and spending and stimulate the economy. Yet Fed officials would likely be reluctant to cut if inflation rose, because it usually seeks to cool higher prices by keeping its key rate unchanged or even raising it if necessary. The minutes ..

On tariffs, prognosticators are struggling to understand the logic and legal basis behind Trump's so-called "reciprocal tariff" plan set for April 2

Benchmark indices up over 5% from recent lows but still trade 12% below record highs logged six months ago

Central bankers also have their eye on any signs of weakness in the labor market that could trigger an interest rate cut

Trump's policies remain a risk for the Fed's policy outlook, and Saturday is likely to see new tariffs slapped on Canada, Mexico and possibly China as well

Investors and many economists still expect the Fed to reduce interest rates later this year, but the watchword for policymakers for now may be caution until they are more certain inflation will fall

Five of the 11 S&P 500 sectors declined, led by a 1.8 per cent drop in Technology stocks. Megacaps were down, with Tesla sliding 2 per cent, Apple dropping 2.7 per cent

Mr Powell brought to Wednesday's press conference details from 2018 Fed research that suggested looking past tariff-induced inflation

The sell-off shaved off investor wealth by Rs 2.8 trillion on Thursday, extending the four-day loss to almost Rs 10 trillion

Dow Jones: The Dow Jones Industrial Average slid 1,123.03 points, or 2.58 per cent, to 42,326.87 on Wednesday - declining for a 10th day and clocking its longest losing streak since 1974

Asian stocks have taken the cue from Wall Street, with MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan down 1 per cent