Latest news with #CNBC
CNBC
9 minutes ago
- Business
- CNBC
Watch CNBC's full interview with Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller
CNBC's Steve Liesman and Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller join 'Squawk Box' to discuss the Fed's inflation fight, state of the economy, rate path outlook, strength of the labor market, impact of tariffs, and more.
NBC News
15 minutes ago
- Business
- NBC News
Fed should consider cutting rates as early as July, official says
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Friday that he doesn't expect tariffs to boost inflation significantly so policymakers should be looking to lower interest rates as early as next month. In a CNBC interview, the central banker said he and his colleagues should move slowly but start to ease as inflation is now longer a major economic threat. 'I think we're in the position that we could do this and as early as July,' Waller said during a 'Squawk Box' interview with CNBC's Steve Liesman. 'That would be my view, whether the committee would go along with it or not.' The comments come two days after the Federal Open Market Committee voted to hold its key interest rate steady, the fourth straight hold following the last cut in December. President Donald Trump, who nominated Waller as a governor during his first term in office, has been hectoring the Fed to lower interest rates to reduce borrowing costs on the $36 trillion national debt. In his remarks, Waller said he thinks the Fed should cut to avoid a potential slowdown in the labor market. 'If you're starting to worry about the downside risk labor market move now don't wait,' he said. 'Why do we want to wait until we actually see a crash before we start cutting rates? So I'm all in favor of saying maybe we should start thinking about cutting the policy rate at the next meeting, because we don't want to wait till the job market tanks before we start cutting the policy rate.' Whether Waller will be able to marshal much support for his position is unclear. The FOMC, Waller included, voted unanimously to hold at this week's meeting, keeping the benchmark federal funds rate locked in a target range of 4.25%-4.5%. According to the 'dot plot' of individual officials' expectations for interest rates this year, seven if the 19 meeting participants said they see rates holding steady this year, two saw just one cut likely, while the remaining 10 expect two or three reductions. The dispersion reflected a sense of uncertainty around policymakers about where rates should head. Trump has called for dramatic moves, saying he thinks the benchmark rate should be at least 2 percentage points lower and even suggested it should be 2.5 percentage points below the current level of 4.33%. However, Waller said he thinks the committee should be move slowly. 'You'd want to start slow and bring them down, just to make sure that there's no big surprises. But start the process. That's the key thing,' he said. 'We've been on pause for six months to wait and see, and so far, the data has been fine. ... I don't think we need to wait much longer, because even if the tariffs come in later, the impacts are still the same. It should be a one-off level effect and not cause persistent inflation.' Other officials have been reluctant to cut as they wait to see what longer-term impact Trump's tariffs have, primarily on inflation but also on the labor market and broader economic growth. Chair Jerome Powell said repeatedly at his post-meeting news conference Wednesday that he believes the Fed can stay in its wait-and-see mode as the labor market continues to hold up. Inflation data of late has shown little pass-through so far as companies burn off inventory accumulated in the run-up to the tariff announcement, and amid concerns that consumer demand is slowing and reducing pricing power. Futures market pricing indicates virtually no chance of a rate cut at the July 29-30 meeting, with the next move expected to come in September.
Miami Herald
18 minutes ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Stock; oil futures on roller-coaster ride amid Israel-Iran conflict
June 20 (UPI) -- Stock futures ticked lower before markets reopened Friday morning amid uncertainty among investors over the Middle East and whether the United States was about to get directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. Contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 83 points, 0.2%; futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 and broad-market S&P 500 futures were also off by 0.2% at the open after markets were shuttered all day Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday. However, all three sets of futures recovered lost ground by 8 a.m. EDT, and were roughly flat. The November contract for Brent Crude Oil, the international benchmark, fell by more than 2% on jitters from comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was weighing expanding airstrikes to "stategic targets" in Iran. However, at just over $72 per barrel, it remains more than $6 above where it was on June 12 before Israel launched its offensive on Iran. The news sent the July contract for West Texas Intermediate -- U.S. crude -- 1% higher, before reversing into negative territory, down 0.2%. "There are several key questions to answer before we know how stocks will handle this geopolitical shock, including how much of Iran's energy infrastructure will be impaired and for how long, whether Iran's nuclear capabilities will be completely wiped out, and whether the current regime will remain in power," LPL Financial chief equity strategist Jeff Buchbinder told CNBC. Analysts suggested the market was in a holding pattern, still digesting Fed Reserve Jerome Powell's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and comments that the central bank was unlikely to make a cut until the economic impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs became clearer. International markets were mostly positive, with stock prices higher in Europe and Asia, with the exception of Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 ended the day down 0.2%. Copyright 2025 UPI News Corporation. All Rights Reserved.
UPI
35 minutes ago
- Business
- UPI
Stock; oil futures on roller-coaster ride amid Israel-Iran conflict
U.S. futures ticked lower overnight amid jitters among investors over the Middle East -- but later recovered after Trump put on hold a decision on direct U.S. involvement in the Israel-Iran conflict. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo June 20 (UPI) -- Stock futures ticked lower before markets reopened Friday morning amid uncertainty among investors over the Middle East and whether the United States was about to get directly involved in the Israel-Iran conflict. Contracts connected to the Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped more than 83 points, 0.2%; futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ 100 and broad-market S&P 500 futures were also off by 0.2% at the open after markets were shuttered all day Thursday for the Juneteenth holiday. However, all three sets of futures recovered lost ground by 8 a.m. EDT, and were roughly flat. The November contract for Brent Crude Oil, the international benchmark, fell by more than 2% on jitters from comments by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he was weighing expanding airstrikes to "stategic targets" in Iran. However, at just over $72 per barrel, it remains more than $6 above where it was on June 12 before Israel launched its offensive on Iran. The news sent the July contract for West Texas Intermediate -- U.S. crude -- 1% higher, before reversing into negative territory, down 0.2%. "There are several key questions to answer before we know how stocks will handle this geopolitical shock, including how much of Iran's energy infrastructure will be impaired and for how long, whether Iran's nuclear capabilities will be completely wiped out, and whether the current regime will remain in power," LPL Financial chief equity strategist Jeff Buchbinder told CNBC. Analysts suggested the market was in a holding pattern, still digesting Fed Reserve Jerome Powell's decision to keep interest rates unchanged and comments that the central bank was unlikely to make a cut until the economic impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs became clearer. International markets were mostly positive, with stock prices higher in Europe and Asia, with the exception of Tokyo where the Nikkei 225 ended the day down 0.2%.
Bloomberg
39 minutes ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Waller Says Fed Could Cut Interest Rates as Soon as July
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said the central bank can lower interest rates as soon as next month. 'We could do this as early as July,' Waller said Friday in an interview on CNBC. The Federal Open Market Committee next meets July 29-30 in Washington.
