WASHINGTON (AP) — After a late-night vote and last-minute ruling, the Federal Reserve began a key meeting on interest rate policy Tuesday with both a new Trump administration appointee and an official the White House has targeted for removal.
Stephen Miran, a top White House economist who was confirmed by the Senate with unusual speed late Monday, was sworn in Tuesday as a member of the Fed’s board of governors. He will vote on the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, when the central bank is expected to reduce its key rate by a quarter-point. Miran may dissent in favor of a larger cut.
Also attending the meeting is Fed governor Lisa Cook, whom the Trump administration has sought to fire in an unprecedented attempt to reshape the Fed, which historically is considered independent of day-to-day politics. An appeals court late Monday upheld an earlier ruling that the firing violated Cook’s due process rights. A lower court had earlier also ruled that President Donald Trump did not provide sufficient “cause” to remove Cook.
With both officials in place, the Fed’s two-day meeting could be unusually contentious for an institution that typically prefers to operate by consensus. It’s possible that as many as three of the seven governors could dissent from a decision to reduce rates by just a quarter-point in favor of a half-point. That would be the first time since 1988 that three governors have dissented. Economists also say that one of the five regional Fed bank presidents who also vote on rates could dissent in favor of keeping rates unchanged.
On Tuesday, the White House said it would appeal Cook’s case to the Supreme Court, though did not specify when.
“The President lawfully removed Lisa Cook for cause,” White House spokesman Kush Desai said. “The Administration will appeal this decision and looks forward to ultimate victory on the issue.”
The U.S. stock market is drifting near its record levels following reactions to profit reports from Macy’s, Marvell Technologies and other companies. The S&P 500 added 0.4% Wednesday and climbed within 0.5% of its all-time high set in late October. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 428 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.2%. Treasury yields eased in the bond market following some mixed reports on the U.S. economy. One suggested hiring was much weaker in November than economists expected, while a second said growth for U.S. services businesses was better than expected.
The Enhanced Games is going public in two ways — with a new listing on the Nadsaq stock exchange and also by offering a direct-to-consumer business focused on performance products.
U.S. stocks are rising following updates on the economy that kept alive hopes for a coming cut to interest rates. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%, as 4 out of every 5 stocks within the index climbed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 562 points, and the Nasdaq composite rose 0.4%. Nvidia weighed on the market after a report suggested Meta Platforms may spend billions on AI chips from Alphabet instead of it. Treasury yields eased after reports on U.S. retail sales and inflation kept traders betting on a good chance for a cut to interest rates in December.
The U.S. stock market is rallying after it seemed to successfully pass a couple of crucial tests. Not only did Nvidia provide another blockbuster profit report that suggested AI superstar stocks can keep rising, a mixed report on the U.S. jobs market Tuesday also kept alive hopes for more cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose 1.7% Thursday and pulled closer to its all-time high set almost a month ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 581 points, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 2.2%. Walmart also rose after delivering better-than-expected results.
Computer chipmaker Nvidia is poised to release a quarterly earnings report that is expected to either deepen a recent downturn in the stock market or prompt an ebullient sigh of relief among investors increasingly worried the world’s most valuable company is perched upon an artificial intelligence bubble about to burst.
U.S. stocks are drifting in mixed trading. The S&P 500 rose 0.2% Wednesday and remains near its all-time high set a couple weeks ago.
