Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell?s phrase ?bump in the road? to describe choppiness in the expected downward path for inflation is being tested following a third consecutive hot inflation reading on 10 April.Headline consumer price inflation for March remained elevated at 3.5%, while core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices came in at 3.8%, both ahead of forecasts.At the March int

With geopolitical tensions rising, the price of Brent Crude could top $100 a barrel for the first time since Russia?s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 suggests former White House advisor Bob McNally in an interview with Bloomberg.Brent Crude has rallied more than a quarter since December 2023 and almost touched $92 per barrel last Friday (5 April) raising fears of a commodity-led rebound in inflation.T

For investors, what Federal Reserve chair Jay Powell says during press conferences following interest rate decisions is more important than the official statement accompanying each rate decision.In other words, monetary policy is set by the communication of rate decisions rather than the decisions themselves.This distinction was more pronounced than usual at the 20 March meeting which, for the rec

Major US indices notched-up further all-time highs this week on dovish comments from Fed chair Jay Powell in the press conference following the central bank?s decision to leave interest rates unchanged.The Fed?s summary of economic projections sees stronger economic growth and stickier inflation, but it still anticipates a couple of rate cuts later in the year.The small-cap, economically sensitive

This column is being written just before the next meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee on 20 March and the working premise is that chair Jay Powell and his colleagues at the US Federal Reserve will leave the headline interest rate unchanged at 5.50%. If that does not turn out to the case then readers can immediately turn over the page, not least to spare the writer?s blushes.That caveat as

Markets often move in unexpected ways and Friday?s (2 February) release of blow-out non-farm payrolls data was no exception.The US economy added 255,000 jobs per month on average in 2023 and coming into the latest data for January the consensus was looking for the rate to slow to 180,000.The actual number of 353,000 jobs created was even higher than the top end 290,000 forecast, while the unemploy

Wine seller?s profitability significantly improvedConfident of a ?positive? 2024 performanceRecruiting new customers remains toughShares in Virgin Wines (VINO:AIM) bubbled up 1.1% to 38.4p after the direct-to-consumer online wine retailer uncorked news of a ?good? Christmas trading period and reiterated its guidance for the year to June 2024 guidance.The stock has soured more than 30% over one yea

The Fed lit the touch paper for a monster rally this week after effectively green-lighting market expectations for rate cuts next year. This was not in the script, and while Fed chairman Jay Powell stopped short of declaring victory over inflation, it?s what the market heard.?Declaring victory would be premature,? Powell actually said, before pondering ?when will it become appropriate to begin dia

Equities made a quiet start to the week, but gold provided some excitement, hitting a record high before returning some gains.Focus this week is on US jobs data, with the latest nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday.The FTSE 100 index opened down 26.35 points, 0.4%, at 7,503.00. The FTSE 250 was up 38.33 points, however, 0.2%, at 18,446.98, and the AIM All-Share nudged up just 0.16 of a point at 7

It has been a mixed and up and down week for US stocks as AI-related excitement linked to Nvidia's (NVDA:NASDAQ) shoot the lights out performance has gradually been outweighed by concern about interest rates.It's probably not the healthiest situation for the entire market's fortunes to be so heavily tied to one stock and US stocks looked increasingly sickly as the week went on. There was real trep

After a strong 2022 as energy prices surged in the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, the UK's contingent of UK small and mid-cap oil and gas companies has endured a much more challenging time in 2023. Windfall taxes have taken a big bite out of profits and commodity markets have fallen back as fears of recession dampen demand expectations.Facing the prospect of an unstable and more onerous fis

British American Tobacco's new boss shows market that he backs his own leadershipComputacenter CEO cashes in on positive set of resultsAssura directors buy over £86,000 sharesBritish American Tobacco (BATS) CEO Tadeu Marroco has bought 10,000 shares at £25.74 for a total value of £257,386 on 6 June.The purchase comes as no surprise as the shares have fallen almost 22% year-to-date and buying no

- Onward Opportunities makes IPO debut- Sees structural market opportunity in UK smaller companies- The Investment Company shifts focus to small capsSmaller companies-focused investment trust Onward Opportunities (ONWD:AIM) began trading on AIM today after raising £12.8 million from its IPO (initial public offering) at a price of 100p per share.The fund's investment manager is Dowgate Wealth, a p

Central banks were dominating market attention early Thursday, with policymakers proving willing to continue hiking interest rates despite worries about the health of the banking sector.After the Federal Reserve raised US rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, the Swiss National Bank early Thursday followed the European Central Bank in hiking by 50 points. Norges Bank, the Norwegian central bank,

- Online wine purveyor reports earnings plunge- Launches full business review- But customer base remains strong, new partnerships performing wellShares in Virgin Wines (VINO:AIM) fell 8% to 44.7p, leaving them 65% lower over one year, after the online wine retailer uncorked a 97% plunge in pre-tax profits for the half to December 2022.Given the shift in consumer confidence over the past 15 months,

It has been difficult to ignore the renewed sense of optimism creeping into stock markets this year. Misery has been replaced by a watchful brightness, and nowhere has this sheen reflected better than among software growth stocks.After tumbling more than a third in 2022, the US-listed iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF (IGV:BATS), comprised of many of the major enterprise software players,

Shares were lower at midday on Wednesday and the pound was slumping toward $1.18, after comments by US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell on Tuesday sent markets scrambling to reset interest rate expectations.The central bank chief signalled that the central bank may pick up the pace of interest rate rises at its next policy meeting.'It was the news investors didn't want to hear, but deep down ha

- Cloud security firm beats Q2 estimates and Q3 guidance- Unveils plans to cut 3% of workforce- Markets nervous about signs of enterprise software weaknessCloud security firm Zscaler (ZS:NASDAQ) reported second-quarter earnings and revenue overnight that topped Wall Street consensus targets. It also narrowly beat expectations for billings, according to FactSet, or future revenue that is already co

The FTSE 100 achieved another record high and also closed above the 8,000 point mark for the first time ever, as European stocks set aside US inflationary worries.The CAC 40 in Paris also achieved a record high on Thursday, though equities in New York struggled in the wake of US producer price data.The FTSE 100 index ended up 14.70 points, or 0.2%, at 8,012.53. It struck a record high of 8,047.06

London's blue-chip stocks rose on Thursday, despite the Bank of England warning that the UK economy might be entering its longest recession since the 1920s, as a weaker pound boosted the index's international earners.The central bank enacted a historic rate rise, lifting the key bank rate by 75 basis points and emulating the Federal Reserve's Wednesday hike. However, Governor Andrew Bailey's press