Economic News

NEW YORK (AFX) - The dollar rose Friday versus the euro, which dipped below $1.27 as data suggested that U.S. inflation remains strong even as the economy appears to slow. The euro brought $1.2678 in late trading in New York, down from $1.2706 in New York late Thursday and down from over $1.28 earlier in the week. The U.S. Commerce Department reported on Friday that consumer spending adjusted fo ...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Procrastination has turned out to be a pretty good tactic for Michael Hulet, a prospective homebuyer shopping near Sacramento, Calif. Hulet, who's relocating from Portland, Ore., missed a self-imposed Sept. 1 deadline to move, but is glad he did, after watching mortgage rates fall since he started looking in June. "I was able to hold off a little longer until the rates came ...

DETROIT (AFX) - When Nelson Ropke recently replaced his Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle with a Chrysler Pacifica crossover, gasoline prices were top-of-mind. The Grosse Pointe lawyer is a typical buyer still smarting from post-Katrina $3-per-gallon prices, but some analysts and dealers say they're seeing fewer people like him since pump prices subsided in the later part of September. O ...

NEW YORK (Dow Jones) -- Treasury yields spent the third-quarter well below the fed funds rate, as the fixed-income market signaled accelerated economic softening in the fourth quarter and a possible Federal Reserve rate cut in early 2007. Vigorous demand for Treasurys, following numerous pieces of data showing a slowing economy and some showing moderating inflation, pushed yields sharply lower  ...

DETROIT (AFX) - When Nelson Ropke recently replaced his Jeep Grand Cherokee sport utility vehicle with a Chrysler Pacifica crossover, gasoline prices were top-of-mind. The Grosse Point lawyer is a typical buyer still smarting from post-Katrina $3-per-gallon prices, but some analysts and dealers say they're seeing fewer people like him since pump prices subsided in the later part of September. Ot ...

NEW YORK (AFX) - Stocks ended a stellar third quarter with a moderate decline Friday, with the Dow Jones industrial average pulling back further from record-high levels. The day's economic news was gloomy and money managers made few bold moves as the quarter ended. "This is possibly a short-term top," said Ken Tower, chief market strategist for Schwab's CyberTrader, said of the Dow' ...

WASHINGTON (Dow Jones) -- William Poole, the president of the St. Louis Fed, said he won't be quick to support a move to cut interest rates until he is convinced by the economic data that a slowdown is underway. In a speech at Middle Tennessee State University, Poole delivered a remarkably frank examination of Fed policy options in coming months. At the moment, Fed policy is in a neutral ran ...

HONG KONG (Dow Jones) -- Confidence among Japan's large manufacturers most likely softened slightly in the three months to September as higher input prices and concerns over slowing global growth weighed on the export outlook, the tankan survey of business sentiment is expected to show Monday. The influential quarterly poll published by the Bank of Japan is expected to show a buoyant mood, pump ...

The dollar climbed to one-week highs versus the euro and yen early Friday after a government report showed a key inflation gauge followed by the Federal Reserve hit an 11-year high. The Commerce Department said consumer prices rose 0.2% in August, and are up 3.2% in the past year. Core consumer prices, which exclude food and energy, also rose 0.2%. The core personal consumption expenditure pric ...

Long-term Treasury prices closed lower Friday, sending yields higher, after new data reports held hints that the economy and pace of inflation could still be vigorous enough to induce the Federal Reserve to continue lifting rates. In addition, St. Louis Fed President William Poole warned that delays in fighting inflation could lead to trouble and said the central bank will raise rates if growth ...