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02/07/24
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Global Shares Flat as Markets Evaluate Comments by Fed Chair
On Tuesday, global stocks were flat as markets evaluated data that showed the labor market continued to be tight as well as the likelihood of interest rate reductions after comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.
On Tuesday, Powell told a conference in Portugal the Fed still required more data before it would cut interest rates to ensure recent weaker inflation data reflect underlying price pressures properly.
These comments were made after Tuesday’s Labor Department data showed job openings, a gauge of labor demand, on the last day of May rose by 221K to 8.14M, the lowest level since Feb. 2021 and slightly higher than Wall Street expectations.
Sierra Mutual Funds’ chief investment officer, James St. Aubin, said some of Powell’s comments seemed to be laying the groundwork for possible cuts in September. He added that the market thought that’s where they were going to start.
St. Aubin added there was a slight increase in job openings and that seemed to indicate that the labor market was hanging in there.
MSCI’s index of global stocks was 0.03% higher at 804.05. The STOXX 600 pan-European index dropped 0.44% as the relief rally in France’s shares faded following the first round of parliamentary elections.
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