(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta President Raphael Bostic said he expects the US central bank will lower interest rates twice in 2025, though uncertainty around that projection has risen. Most Read from Bloomberg “While that’s my baseline expectation, there’s a lot that is going to happen that could influence that really in both directions,” Bostic said Thursday on a call with reporters. In an essay also released Thursday, Bostic wrote that monetary policy was well positioned for the moment, but he cautioned that officials must remain vigilant amid heightened policy uncertainty that could affect the labor market and…
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Image source: Getty Images Shares in tobacco group British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS) have fallen to a price of £30 since the company’s 2024 results were published on 13 February. That’s a drop of just over 10%. This FTSE 100 stock has now given up most of the gains made since 1 January, but the year is still young. British American shares are still up by 25% over 12 months. I reckon it’s worth considering whether this dip could provide a buying opportunity to lock in an 8% dividend yield. Why the dip? Let’s start with a look at some…
OpenAI appears to be growing quickly despite increasing competition. The San Francisco-based tech company had 400 million weekly active users as of February, up 33% from 300 million in December, the company’s chief operating officer, Brad Lightcap, told CNBC. These numbers have not been previously reported.Lightcap pointed to the “natural progression” of ChatGPT as it becomes more useful and familiar to a broader group of people.”People hear about it through word of mouth. They see the utility of it. They see their friends using it,” Lightcap said in an interview, adding that it takes time for individuals to find use cases…
ABB has been selected by GreenIron, an innovative Swedish company working in the mining and metals industries with its patented materials reduction technology, to provide automation and control system solutions for a first commercial facility in Sandviken, Sweden.GreenIron’s hydrogen-based reduction technology will be industrialized for fossil-free and energy-efficient production of metals, producing fossil-free sponge iron that can then be used in industries such as steelmaking. A single furnace is expected to reduce carbon emissions by around 56,000 tonnes per year compared to traditional coal-based methods, with the only residual product being water. Scaling up to 300 furnaces would correspond to…
Image source: Getty Images The FTSE 25O index has been limping along for some time now. Excluding dividends, it’s risen just 21% in a decade! That meek performance is obviously very disappointing, especially when we compare it to other indexes. The mid-cap S&P 400 in the US, for example, is up more than 100% over the same period. One problem is that FTSE 250 companies tend to be more domestically focused, meaning they’re reliant on the weak UK economy. And with inflation rising again and the Bank of England unlikely to cut rates in March, I’m not optimistic that the…
Image source: Getty Images BAE Systems (LSE: BA.) shares have been having a bit of a breather recently — they’re basically flat over the past six months. Zooming out a bit further though, they’re up 47% in two years and 120% over three. That easily tops the wider FTSE 100. Yesterday (19 February), we got the defence giant’s full-year 2024 results, which were solid. So, should I buy more shares for my ISA? Let’s discuss. Strong growth and huge order backlog Last year, BAE’s sales jumped 14% to £28.3bn, while underlying profit grew by the same percentage to just over £3bn.…
(Bloomberg) — Nigeria’s central bank paused its steep campaign of monetary tightening, after an overhaul of the data used to calculate inflation showed it had significantly slowed. Most Read from Bloomberg The monetary policy committee maintained the policy rate at 27.5%, Governor Olayemi Cardoso told reporters in Abuja, the capital on Thursday. Eight out of nine economists in a Bloomberg survey correctly predicted the decision. “The MPC noted with satisfaction recent macro economic developments,” Cardoso said, citing recent stability of the naira. “The committee was unanimous in its decision to hold all parameters.” The MPC has raised rates by a…
Friedrich Merz, Union candidate for chancellor and CDU federal chairman, joins the “Quadrell” TV round in the Bundestag election campaign.Michael Kappeler | Picture Alliance | Getty ImagesFriedrich Merz, migration hard-liner and longtime rival of Angela Merkel, is expected to become Germany’s next chancellor. His party the Christian Democratic Union is leading polls alongside its affiliate the Christian Social Union just days before the election.Back in September, Merz was elected as the CDU party’s designated candidate for chancellor in this year’s federal elections, after leading the organization and heading the opposition CDU-CSU parliamentary group since 2022. The CSU is a regional…
China’s Iron and Steel Association said the 25% tariff increase on all steel and aluminum exports to the United States would have an adverse impact on the supply chain of the global steel industry, including China’s steel industry, state broadcaster China Central Television reported on Thursday. Source link
BusinessWire IndiaNew Delhi [India], February 20: Carbon Check (India), India’s leading Validation & Verification Body (VVB), becomes the first Designated Operational Entity (DOE) globally to receive accreditation under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement Crediting Mechanism of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This prestigious recognition places Carbon Check at the forefront of global carbon markets, empowering it to validate and verify emission reduction projects under the Article 6.4 mechanism – a key framework that promotes international collaboration in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. With only a handful of organizations globally that even qualify for this accreditation,…