The main headlines that the global financial media focused on last night and this morning were:
The Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range of 5.25%-5.5%.
For the sixth time in a row, the Fed kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25%-5.50%, in line with market expectations.
The Fed's FOMC statement showed that the Fed will slow the pace of balance sheet reduction starting in June, reducing the pace of its holdings of U.S. Treasuries from $60 billion per month to $25 billion, and the pace of reducing its holdings of mortgage-backed securities unchanged at $35 billion per month.
The Fed's FOMC statement showed that it has failed to further achieve its 2% inflation target in recent months, reiterating that it will wait for greater confidence in inflation before cutting interest rates. Inflation has slowed over the past year but remains elevated, and the committee members unanimously agreed to the interest rate decision. The economic outlook is uncertain and the Committee remains highly concerned about inflation risks. The Committee judged that the risks to achieving the employment and inflation targets had become better balanced over the past year. Job growth remains strong and the unemployment rate remains low.
The Fed mentioned lack of progress in fighting inflation, but Powell said that a rate hike is unlikely
The Fed has expressed new concerns about inflation, signaling that it may keep interest rates higher for longer, but will not raise rates again.
Officials unanimously decided to keep the benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range of 5.25%-5.5%, and the rate statement reiterated that more evidence of cooling inflation is needed before cutting rates.
"So far this year, the data hasn't made us more confident about rate cuts, and higher-than-expected inflation data means we may be more confident about rate cuts than expected," Powell said at a press conference.
"The Fed's next move is unlikely to be to raise interest rates, which will only be raised if officials see convincing evidence that monetary policy is not restrictive enough to bring inflation back to the central bank's 2% target," Powell said. But we see no evidence to support this conclusion."
Powell said he doesn't know when the Fed will gain enough confidence to start cutting interest rates.
To cut costs and improve returns, Barclays has launched a plan to lay off hundreds of employees
In line with CEO CS Venkatakrishnan's multi-year plan to improve returns, Barclays has begun cutting hundreds of jobs with a £2 billion cost-cutting plan.
Hundreds of employees in Barclays' global markets, investment banking and research divisions will be affected by the layoffs, according to people familiar with the matter. The layoffs began on Wednesday, according to people familiar with the matter who requested anonymity for discussing personnel information.
The news confirms earlier reports that Barclays is preparing to lay off hundreds of employees in its investment banking division, which includes trading, consulting, capital markets, and the company's international corporate banking business.
Qualcomm's quarterly outlook is solid, showing that smartphones continue to recover
Qualcomm, the world's largest seller of smartphone processors, has a solid outlook for the current quarter, indicating that demand for mobile phones continues to recover.
The company announced on Wednesday that revenue for the three months ending June would be $8.8 billion to $9.6 billion. Earnings per share, excluding certain items, were $2.15 to $2.35. Analysts had expected revenue of $9.08 billion and earnings per share of $2.16.
This outlook suggests that demand has begun to rebound after two years of decline. Qualcomm had predicted a gradual recovery in the smartphone market in 2024.
In the long term, CEO Cristiano Amon has been working hard to enter PCs, automobiles and other markets and reduce reliance on mobile phone chips. But Qualcomm is still heavily reliant on mobile phone demand.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Dimon said the U.S. economy could fall into stagflation
On the evening of the 1st, Beijing time, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said that he expects the Fed to be able to reduce inflation without causing a recession, but does not rule out more troubling possibilities such as the US economy falling into stagflation.
Dimon said he was "cautious" about the U.S. economy and said inflation could be stickier for longer and that "stagflation is also a possibility."
Dimon stressed that he remains "expecting" a soft landing for the US economy: the economy can avoid a recession despite slower growth and inflation still being a bit high. But Dimon said he wasn't sure if that was the most likely outcome.
U.S. regulators are discussing finalizing capital reform rules for the banking sector as early as August
While some critics have called for a repeal, the Federal Reserve and other top U.S. regulators are continuing to push ahead with plans to improve the capital adequacy ratios of big banks.
Key officials have decided to tweak the original proposal rather than reinvent the wheel, with some pushing for the rules to be finalized as early as August, according to people familiar with the matter. If the capital reform plan announced last July is abandoned, the re-finalization of the new regulations will almost certainly be delayed until after the US election in November.
Representatives of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) declined to comment. Officials from those agencies are still weighing specific changes to last July's draft, but have not yet agreed on a precise date and are still awaiting final approval.