Investors have apparently weathered the latest AI and interest rate storm in the US with a clear conscience. Kevin Warsh provides the markets with rhetorical support. Whether the upswings will form a viable foundation for a recovery remains questionable. The current rollercoaster market continues to underscore the opaque situation. Investors continue to lack the decisive thread that would guide them through the maze of interest rate issues, AI doubts and crisis hotspots. Those seeking guidance in the markets are constantly encountering new questions. The past trading days were particularly marked by new US inflation data, which were published mid-week. There was also an initial push by the US reporting season.
DAX
US inflation rises to 3.7 percent in September
As the U.S. Department of Labor announced on Wednesday afternoon, U.S. consumer prices rose by 3.7 percent in September compared to the same month last year, which is higher than economists had expected (3.6 percent). In August, the rate was still 3.4 percent. The inflation rate remains well outside the range of 2.0 percent actually targeted by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The core inflation rate, which excludes the drivers of energy and food prices, also rose by 0.1 percentage points in the same period to 2.6 percent.
Producer prices and retail sales in the USA stronger than expected
US producer prices also fell significantly more month-on-month in Thursday’s figures at 1.3 percent compared to expectations (0.5 percent). US retail sales also increased by 0.8 percent in the same period, according to the Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce, after (revised) 1.3 percent in the previous month. The main reason for the increase was higher gasoline prices.
Fed Chief Kevin Warsh eases concerns about AI
„We are currently experiencing structural growth and an enormous wave of investment,“ Fed Chairman Kevin Warsh said on Friday in Bangkok. At the International Monetary Fund (IMF) spring meeting alongside the World Bank, he is thus taking some of the concerns away from the markets that investment in artificial intelligence might not be worth it.
Currently, 85.1 percent of market participants expect a pause in interest rates at the October meeting, while only 14.9 percent expect an increase in interest rates, a total of a quarter of a percentage point, to a range of 4.00 to 4.25 percent.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Index
