Here’s what my colleague, market strategist Mike “Willo” Wilson says happened while we were sleeping… U.S. stocks were largely unaffected as the Federal Reserve trimmed interest rates by 0.25% and signaled it might cut rates two more times before the end of the year. Fed Chair Jerome Powell pointed to signs of a weaker job market, but also noted that rising tariffs are pushing up inflation. The US dollar strengthened, which put pressure on the Australian and New Zealand currencies. Australia’s August jobs report is due today, and by the time you’re reading this, New Zealand’s GDP numbers should already be out. ASX futures suggest a weaker start for the Australian stock market. China’s cyberspace regulator has instructed companies including Alibaba to halt orders for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D, a semiconductor for workstations that can be repurposed for artificial-intelligence applications. The move marks Beijing’s latest step to wean the country off Nvidia hardware and boost domestic alternatives. Photographer: Annabelle Chih/Bloomberg Electric car maker Tesla is working on a redesign of its door handles, which have drawn scrutiny over safety incidents that trapped passengers inside their vehicles. Franz von Holzhausen, Tesla’s longtime design chief, said the company is looking to combine the electronic and manual door-release mechanisms, which are currently in separate locations. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent once agreed to occupy two different houses as his “principal residence” at the same time, mortgage documents show — the same kind of contradictory pledges that President Donald Trump has been using to try to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. President Trump’s blitz of tariff initiatives was premised on an arcane emergency-powers law which may soon prove its undoing, writes Bloomberg’s editorial board. |