The earliest rate cut will be in September! Last night, the Nasdaq soared, and Nvidia soared by more than 2 trillion yuan
Last night, global assets rose sharply
As of the close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.24% to 40,842.79 points, the S&P 500 rose 1.58% to 5,522.3 points, and the Nasdaq rose 2.64% to 17,599.4 points. In July, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 4.41%, the S&P 500 rose 1.13%, and the Nasdaq fell 0.75%
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged
The Federal Reserve ended its two-day monetary policy meeting on July 31 and announced that it would maintain the target range of the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%. The Fed also said that if the fight against inflation continues to make the desired progress, the Fed may announce a rate cut at its meeting in September this year. As inflation has fallen less rapidly than expected, the Fed has maintained the target range of interest rates between 5.25% and 5.5% since the end of July last year, the highest level in 23 years. The Federal Open Market Committee, the decision-making body of the Federal Reserve, said in a statement issued after the meeting that day that inflation has eased over the past year, but it is still at a relatively high level. In recent months, "some further progress" has been made in achieving the 2% inflation target. In the statement of the June meeting, the Fed's wording was "modest further progress" in fighting inflation.
Powell: Rate cut as early as September
On July 31, local time, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell held a press conference on the federal funds rate policy released by the Federal Reserve that day. He said that the second quarter inflation data increased the confidence of the Federal Reserve and made "some further progress" in achieving the 2% inflation target. If the inflation test is met, the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates as early as September, and emphasized that all decisions of the Federal Reserve are "absolutely" non-political and have nothing to do with the upcoming presidential election. Powell also hinted in his answer to questions that a 50 basis point rate cut is unlikely. Powell said that the current US economy looks very different from a year ago. He described the current economy as "historically unusual" and a "welcome outcome." He said Fed members are closely watching the recent rise in unemployment and possible slack in the labor market, and that as inflation cools, the Fed will be able to weigh prices and labor markets more equally.He noted that currently, low unemployment and low layoff levels suggest that "the labor market is normalizing."