Fed Chairman, Mr. Powell, states that interest rates are "just below" neutral



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Wall Street: an overview

Shares rose sharply on Wednesday, Nov. 28, after Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said interest rates were "still low by historical standards" and "would be neutral for interest rates." economy – that is, neither acceleration nor slowing down of growth ".

Powell spoke Wednesday at the Economic Club of New York.

The Fed chairman also said that the recent sale of the stock market posed no major risks to the financial system, indicating that the declines would not be enough to persuade the central bank to give up its pressure to raise interest rates.

"It's important to distinguish between market volatility and events that threaten financial stability," Powell said. "Significant and sustained declines in stock prices can put downward pressure on spending and confidence.From the point of view of financial stability, however, we do not see any dangerous excess today. on the stock market. "

Before Powell's appearance, Donald Trump had criticized him, as well as the Fed, in an interview with the Washington Post in which he accused the central bank of lowering US stocks and prompting the decision of General Motors Co. ( GM) to close five plants in North America. and two other factories outside North America, and reduced its payroll by 15%.

In an interview, Trump told La Poste that he was "not a little happy with my selection" of Powell at the head of the Federal Reserve, adding that the Fed's current stance on rates of interest was "very far from the basics". Trump's remarks follow a similar interview with The Wall Street Journal in which he accused the central bank of being "a bigger problem than China" and arrived just hours before Powell's keynote address on monetary policy. Wednesday in New York.

The shares also benefited from reports of a possible advance in trade talks between the United States and China ahead of the weekend's G20 summit in Argentina.

White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters that Donald Trump and Xi Jinping of China will meet for dinner on Saturday, December 1st. He warned that the Chinese president "would have the opportunity to change the tone and content of these talks," he nonetheless suggested that "President Trump said he was open" to the conclusion of An agreement to resolve ongoing trade tensions and possibly put an end to the new tariffs on products made in China.

The Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, told Reuters that a total trade war between the world's two largest economies was "unimaginable" and that she hoped the talks from weekend would make progress.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average Index gained 258 points, up 1.77%, the S & P 500, up 1.48% and the Nasdaq, up 1.68%.

Gross domestic product in the third quarter grew 3.5% on an annual basis, unchanged from the Commerce Department's previous estimate in October. US GDP increased 4.2% in the second quarter.

Salesforce.com Inc. (CRM), the cloud computing software company, reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of 61 cents per share, exceeding forecasts by 11 cents, and released strong sales forecasts.

Revenues for the quarter were $ 3.39 billion, up from $ 2.7 billion a year earlier and exceeding estimates of $ 3.37 billion. The company's closely monitored billing agent – defined as Salesforce's revenue and sequential change in unearned income balance – reached $ 2.89 billion, up 28% and above consensus of $ 2.68 billion of dollars.

The stock jumped 6.5% Wednesday.

Salesforce said it expects revenues of $ 16 billion by 2020, which should enable it to reach the $ 20 billion to $ 23 billion target set for 2022.

"Although the bottom line is slightly below analysts' expectations, we think investors should not be fooled," wrote Jim Cramer and Action Alerts PLUS, which owns Salesforce shares in its portfolio. "Overall, it was a great quarter for the company, which performed well and the company again outperformed the customer relationship management market, but it also continues to gain share."

Tiffany & Co. (TIF) sold 11.7% after posting earnings per share of 77 cents in the third quarter, which is in line with analysts' expectations, but its $ 1.01 billion sales were lower than expected. Same store sales increased 2%, but they also missed forecasts.

The luxury jewelery retailer also reduced its growth outlook for year-over-year comparable sales by a lower than average one-digit average growth rate over the previous range.

J. Smucker Co. (SJM) announced second-quarter earnings and sales in line with Wall Street's expectations and the consumer products company reduced its outlook for the year. The stock fell 6.6%.

Sporting goods retailer Dick's Sporting Goods Inc. (DKS) gained 39 cents a share in the third quarter, exceeding estimates of 26 cents. Net sales of $ 1.86 billion missed forecasts of $ 1.88 billion, while same-store sales fell 3.9% in the quarter, which is lower than analysts' expectations. forecast a decrease of 4%.

Dick's has raised his forecast range for the period from $ 3.02 to $ 3.20 between 201 and $ 3.15 per share for 2018.

The stock decreased by 3%.

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