“We’re looking at what’s the best thing for the people that we serve,” he said. “Truth is mostly people who are calling us political — it’s just a cheap shot.”
President Donald Trump — in addition to pressuring the Fed for lower interest rates — has been among Republicans who have accused Powell of making rate decisions that favoured Democrats.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, AutoZone fell 0.7 per cent after reporting a weaker profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected, as the auto parts retailer squeezed less earnings out of each $US1 of revenue than it did a year earlier.
But a 1.7 per cent rise for Boeing helped limit the market’s losses after Uzbekistan Airways agreed to buy 14 of its Dreamliner airplanes and said it may add eight more to the order.
Kenvue climbed 2.2 per cent and recovered much of its drop from Monday, when it had sunk on worries that President Donald Trump would say its Tylenol product may increase the risk of autism in children. Trump did warn pregnant women about taking Tylenol, but he did not seem to cite any significant new research to back it up. Kenvue has disputed any link between the drug and autism.
Gold, meanwhile, continued its record-breaking rally and topped $3,800 per ounce. It’s soared nearly 45 per cent so far this year, even more than the US stock market, in part on expectations that the Fed will cut interest rates to help the slowing US job market.
Worries about potentially high inflation because of White House influence on the Fed, along with mountains of debt for the US and other governments, have also vaulted gold’s price higher.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell reiterated that the central bank will take a measured approach to cutting rates despite pressure from the Trump White House.Credit: Bloomberg
Powell said again on Tuesday that the Fed is stuck in an unusual position because worries about the job market are rising at the same time that inflation has stubbornly remained above its 2 per cent target.
An update on Friday will show how much prices are rising for US households based on the Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, and economists expect it to show a slight acceleration for last month.
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A preliminary report suggested activity at US businesses is still growing, but at a slower pace as tariffs raise prices for them. Companies may be finding it difficult to pass those higher costs fully on to customers because of “weaker demand and stiff competition,” according to S&P Global.
The numbers suggest that inflation could moderate for US households, but not by so much that it drops below the Fed’s 2 per cent target in the coming months, according to Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence.
In the bond market, Treasury yields ticked lower. The yield on the 10-year Treasury eased to 4.11 per cent from 4.15 per cent late Monday.
In stock markets abroad, indexes were mixed amid modest moves across much of Europe and Asia.
France’s CAC 40 rose 0.5 per cent, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.7 per cent for two of the bigger moves. Japan’s stock market was closed for a national holiday.
AP
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