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Asian markets were mixed Friday at the end of a strong week for investors following a US interest rate cut, with attention now turning to a call between Donald Trump and Xi Jinping due later in the day.Adding to selling pressure were expectations that Japan’s central bank would hike interest rates later this year, despite holding them at its latest meeting.While the Federal Reserve and boss Jerome Powell were not as forthright as hoped on future rate reductions, the mood on trading floors remained upbeat.The US central bank lowered borrowing costs Wednesday for the first time since December after a series of reports pointed to a slowdown in the country’s labour market, which offset stubbornly high inflation.A closely watched gauge of future moves indicated two more this year, but Powell warned decisions would be data-dependent. With that in mind, even figures showing a sharp drop in initial jobless claims for last week did little to dampen expectations that rates will continue to be cut.”The underlying trend remains one of only a gentle drift higher in claims, reinforcing the view that the US labour market is not showing signs of sudden weakness,” said National Australia Bank’s Rodrigo Catril.All three main indexes ended Thursday at records, continuing a trend that has characterised markets in recent months, thanks to another surge in tech giants.That came after news that chip titan Nvidia will invest $5 billion in struggling US rival Intel and jointly develop processors for PCs and data centres.Asian traders moved cautiously in the morning, but selling picked up after the Bank of Japan’s latest meeting.Monetary policymakers kept rates on hold but only after a surprise 7-2 vote that indicated two members wanted a hike. That boosted bets on such a move before the end of the year.The move came amid lingering political uncertainty and economic concerns fuelled by US tariffs.The bank also said it would start offloading exchange-traded funds bought as part of its earlier monetary easing campaign that had helped boost equities.Catril said the dissenters were “a strong signal that the BOJ will be hiking once political uncertainty is removed”.Before the announcement, official data showed inflation in the fourth-largest economy slowing to 2.7 percent in August, with rice price rises easing following a sharp spike that rattled the government.Traders are now awaiting a news conference from bank boss Kazuo Ueda due later in the day.Tokyo ended in the red, having enjoyed a strong start to the day. There were also losses in Shanghai, Singapore, Seoul, Taipei, Mumbai and Jakarta, while Hong Kong was flat.Sydney, Wellington, Bangkok and Manila rose with London, Paris and Frankfurt.Talks between president Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi — their first since June — are due to take place later Friday, with the US president telling reporters they would discuss a deal to change ownership of the hugely popular video-sharing app TikTok.The phone call also comes after high level officials from both sides met in Madrid where they spoke about trade between the economic superpowers, with the deadline for a US tariff pause approaching in November.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.6 percent at 45,045.81 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: FLAT at 26,545.10 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 0.3 percent at 3,820.09 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,233.69 Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1761 from $1.1785 on ThursdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3485 from $1.3550Dollar/yen: UP at 147.91 yen from 147.97 yenEuro/pound: UP at 87.22 pence from 86.96 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.4 percent at $63.29 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.3 percent at $67.27 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 46,142.42 (close)

The Bank of Japan kept interest rates on hold Friday amid lingering political uncertainty and economic concerns but said it would start offloading funds bought as part of its earlier monetary easing campaign.The announcement came hours after official data showed inflation in the fourth-largest economy slowed to 2.7 percent in August, with rice price rises slowing following a sharp spike that rattled the government.In a widely expected decision the central bank decided against hiking borrowing costs, keeping them at 0.5 percent, but said it would begin reducing its exchange-traded fund and real estate investment trust holdings.The BoJ began buying the funds — in a bid to boost liquidity and reduce the cost of capital for firms, among other things — more than a decade ago as part of its campaign to kickstart the torpid economy and end years of almost non-existent inflation.Officials began hiking rates from below zero in March last year as figures signalled an end to the country’s “lost decades” of stagnation, with inflation surging.However, with worries about the global outlook and US tariffs growing, the bank paused its tightening measures at the start of 2025, with the last increase in January, taking rates to their highest level in 17 years.The yen rose against the dollar but Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index fell around 0.5 percent.In a statement following Friday’s announcement, the BoJ said: “Japan’s economic growth is likely to moderate, as trade and other policies in each jurisdiction lead to a slowdown in overseas economies and to a decline in domestic corporate profits and other factors.”Japanese exports to the United States face a 15 percent levy imposed by President Donald Trump’s administration, causing huge pain for the nation’s industries, particularly the auto sector.But BoJ governor Kazuo Ueda told a news conference that “although US tariffs are having a negative impact, particularly on the revenues of the manufacturing industry, so far they don’t appear to be affecting the economy as a whole including capital investment, employment and wages”.- Leadership race -The rate decision was carried by seven votes to two, with the dissent described as “a bit of surprise” by Tsuyoshi Ueno of NLI Research Institute.”Governor Ueda has said he wants to see the impact of Trump tariffs, but maybe there is a division in their opinions, as inflation continues,” he told AFP.The move comes as the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) prepares for an election for a new leader following the resignation of Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.The government has come under pressure from voters angry about the rising cost of rice and Ishiba’s coalition lost its majority in both chambers. A race for his successor will be decided on October 4. Figures Friday showed core inflation — stripping out food costs –hit 2.7 percent in August.While that was down on July’s 3.1 percent, it is still well above the BoJ’s target of two percent, and analysts have said the bank will likely announce another hike this year or in early 2026.Rice prices had skyrocketed because of supply problems linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, amongst other factors.Abhijit Surya of Capital Economics said the main factor behind the fall in inflation was “a deepening of energy price deflation… due to the resumption of electricity and gas subsidies”.But Taro Kimura, an analyst with Bloomberg Economics, said a pullback in inflation “won’t change the big picture”.”Consumer prices will remain warm enough to keep the Bank of Japan on track to pare stimulus, likely as soon as October,” he added.

Chinese consumer tech giant Xiaomi will remotely fix a flaw in the assisted driving system on over 110,000 of its popular SU7 electric cars, the firm and regulators said Friday, months after a deadly crash involving the model.China’s tech companies and automakers have poured billions of dollars into smart-driving technology, a new battleground in the country’s cutthroat domestic car market.But Beijing has moved to tighten safety rules after a Xiaomi SU7 in assisted driving mode crashed and killed three college students this year.The event raised concerns over the advertising of cars as being capable of autonomous driving.On Friday, the State Administration for Market Regulation said Xiaomi’s highway assisted driving system showed insufficient recognition, warning and handling ability in some extreme driving conditions.That risked collision if drivers failed to promptly intervene, the regulator said. Xiaomi will remotely upgrade standard SU7 models manufactured before August 30, 2025, the company said in a Q&A on the X-like social media platform Weibo.”Xiaomi forever places user safety as its top priority,” it said, adding that while no physical parts needed replacing it would manage the fix according to recall procedures. The recall affects 116,887 cars, the regulator said.- Fatal crash -Remote recalls have become standard practice among automakers. But the announcement reignited online discussion of the fatal SU7 crash.Three students died in March after their Xiaomi SU7 hit a concrete barrier on an expressway in eastern Anhui province.Before the crash, the vehicle was in Xiaomi’s Navigate On Autopilot assisted driving mode, traveling at 116 kilometres per hour (72 miles per hour), according to a company statement at the time.While travelling on a highway section with roadworks, the vehicle detected an obstacle ahead, issued a warning and handed control to the driver, Xiaomi said.But seconds later, the vehicle hit a barrier at around 97km/h.Footage posted online showed a car in flames on the highway and later the burned-out wreckage.Xiaomi founder Lei Jun said on social media he was “heavy-hearted” and that his company would cooperate with a police investigation.The crash sparked discussion online about Xiaomi’s assisted driving functions, why the car caught fire and whether the doors could be opened in an emergency.On Friday, a hashtag related to the recall was viewed more than 70 million times on Weibo.Launched in March 2024, the SU7 marked an ambitious foray by the consumer electronics and smartphone giant into China’s competitive EV market.By this July, Xiaomi had delivered more than 300,000 SU7s, Bloomberg reported, citing the state-owned China Automotive Technology and Research Center.

Tapanuli orangutans are the world’s most endangered great ape. Fewer than 800 remain, all previously thought to be in their native Indonesia. But now an Indian zoo says it has one.An Indian court cleared the 3,500-acre wildlife facility known as Vantara on Monday of allegations including unlawful acquisition of animals and financial wrongdoing.But the decision is unlikely to quiet questions about how Vantara, which describes itself as a wildlife rehabilitation and conservation centre, has stocked its enclosures. Vantara, run by Anant Ambani, the son of Asia’s richest man, says it houses 150,000 animals of 2,000 species, far exceeding populations at well-known zoos in New York, London or Berlin. AFP spoke to seven experts on conservation and the wildlife trade to understand concerns about Vantara.Several declined to speak on the record, citing Vantara’s previous legal actions against critics. They called Vantara’s collection unprecedented.”We’ve never seen anything on this scale,” said one longtime conservation expert from a wildlife protection group.”It’s hoovering up animals from all over the world.”Some of those acquisitions are more noteworthy than others, such as the single tapanuli that arrived in Vantara between 2023 and 2024, according to the facility’s submissions to India’s Central Zoo Authority.Only officially described in 2017, tapanulis are incredibly rare, said Serge Wich, an orangutan specialist at Liverpool John Moores University.They are confined to a small range in Indonesia and are in “dire straits” because of threats including mining and deforestation, he told AFP.- ‘Surprised and shocked’ -Trade in the world’s most endangered species is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).But there are exceptions, including for “captive-bred” animals — individuals born in captivity to captive parents. There is only one CITES record of a tapanuli orangutan ever being transferred internationally.It left Indonesia in 2023, bound for the United Arab Emirates, where Vantara says its tapanuli came from.The transfer record describes the animal as “captive-bred”.However, multiple experts said that description was implausible.”There are no captive breeding programmes for orangutans in Indonesia,” said Panut Hadisiswoyo, founder and chairman of the Orangutan Information Centre in Indonesia.Only a handful are known to be in captivity at all, at rehabilitation facilities in Indonesia, he said.A conservationist for more than two decades, Panut said he was “surprised and shocked” to learn from AFP about Vantara’s tapanuli orangutan.”We do everything to protect them,” he said. “So it’s really, really distressing information.”There is no information on where in Indonesia the animal originated. The country’s CITES authorities did not respond to a request for comment.Experts said it was possible the orangutan is not a tapanuli at all. They look similar enough to Bornean and Sumatran orangutans that DNA testing would be needed for confirmation. It could also be a mix of tapanuli and another species, perhaps discovered by a zoo in its collection — although experts questioned why a facility would hand off such a rare animal.But if the animal is a tapanuli, “it’s almost inevitable that it would have to be illegal”, said orangutan conservation expert Erik Meijaard.”It would be super sad.”- ‘Pure nonsense’ -Vantara did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the orangutan and how it acquires animals.The tapanuli is not the first highly endangered animal to arrive at Vantara.Spix’s macaws, a vibrant blue species native to Brazil, were extinct in the wild until recently.Brazil has sought to prevent all trade and transfer of the birds.It allowed a breeding facility in Germany to acquire some on condition they would not be sold or moved without Brazilian permission, according to documents submitted to CITES. Yet in 2023, 26 Spix’s macaws from the German facility arrived in Vantara. Vantara says it is working “to ensure that the calls of these rare birds are never lost from their native habitats”.The case has rankled Brazil, which raised it repeatedly at CITES meetings.Asked about Vantara’s tapanuli, the CITES secretariat told AFP “this matter is under review”, adding it was “not in a position to provide information”.In public documents, CITES has acknowledged receiving “multiple reports” about imports of endangered animals into India. India has said it will invite CITES officials for a visit but has yet to provide “detailed information on the matter”, the secretariat noted.If Vantara does own a single tapanuli orangutan, its conservation value would be limited, said Panut, who urged the animal’s return to Indonesia.For Meijaard, conservation in their natural habitat in Indonesia provides “the only chance for this species’ survival”.”Trying to breed orangutans outside Indonesia with some kind of long-term hope that they are going to contribute to the population is just pure nonsense.”

Inflation in Japan slowed to 2.7 percent in August due partly to government energy subsidies, official data showed Friday, with the cost of rice easing following a huge price spike.Inflation continues to be driven by rice prices, which increased by 68.8 percent year-on-year in August after surges of around 100 percent in June and 90.7 percent in July.Voters angry about rising rice costs have deserted the long-dominant ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and this month an under-pressure Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba announced he would step down after his coalition lost its majority in both chambers.Rice prices have skyrocketed because of supply problems linked to a very hot summer in 2023 and panic-buying after a “megaquake” warning last year, amongst other factors.The core inflation reading from the internal affairs ministry, which excludes volatile fresh food prices, was in line with market expectations, and was down on the 3.1 percent in July.Abhijit Surya of Capital Economics said the main factor behind the fall in inflation was “a deepening of energy price deflation… due to the resumption of electricity and gas subsidies”.But Taro Kimura, an analyst with Bloomberg Economics, said that a pullback in inflation “won’t change the big picture”.”Consumer prices will remain warm enough to keep the Bank of Japan on track to pare stimulus, likely as soon as October,” he added.Ishiba appointed a new farm minister and his government has released emergency stocks in an effort to bring prices down.Last month Japan announced a change in its decades-old policy of encouraging farmers to grow crops other than rice.US President Donald Trump also wants Japan to import more American rice.- Export woes -Last month, data showed that Japan’s economy grew at an annualised pace of 1.0 percent in the second quarter.The reading suggested the economy was suffering less than feared from US tariffs.But other data released this week showed exports to the United States plunged nearly 14 percent in August, with cars down 28.4 percent. The auto industry, which accounts for about a third of Japan’s exports to the United States, has been suffering under a 27.5 percent levy. However, on Tuesday, lower US tariffs on Japanese autos kicked in as Washington implemented a recent trade pact between the two countries. Vehicles will now face a 15 percent toll, the same as many other goods.While the implementation of the trade deal marked a win for Japan, the levies will continue to cause huge pain for the nation’s industries and Japanese business lobbies are hoping Tokyo will push on with fresh negotiations.Japan’s automobile industry, which includes major firms such as Toyota and Honda, accounts for around eight percent of the country’s jobs.

Stock markets advanced Thursday, as tech shares jumped following AI-chips giant Nvidia’s announcement of a $5 billion investment in struggling US rival Intel, and as investors digested the Federal Reserve’s first interest rate cut of 2025.The tech-heavy Nasdaq led gains on Wall Street, with Intel shares soaring nearly 23 percent and Nvidia gaining more than three percent.All three major US indices finished at fresh records.The dollar gained against other major currencies.”Even if Intel needs handouts from its peers in Silicon Valley, investors like it,” said Kathleen Brooks, research director at trading platform XTB.Under the Nvidia-Intel deal, the companies will jointly develop chips for PCs and data centers.The deal comes on the heels of the United States taking a 10-percent stake in Intel, which has fallen behind in recent years after missing key technology shifts.The move propelled shares of other tech firms. In Europe, shares in ASML, a Dutch company that makes the machines used to produce semiconductors, surged more than seven percent.Other US semiconductor names were mixed. Micron jumped 5.6 percent while Advanced Micro Devices dropped 0.8 percent.Investors were also reacting to Wednesday’s US central bank decision to lower rates by 25 basis points.US stocks had finished mixed Wednesday over uncertainty about the path forward following the Fed’s announcement.But the mood changed Thursday, with investors confident that more cuts are coming this year, analysts said.”Markets are betting policymakers will continue to prioritize jobs over inflation, even with headline prices still running hot,” said Fawad Razaqzada, market analyst at City Index and FOREX.com.The decision to cut came even as US inflation runs well above policymakers’ two-percent target, but analysts said the main focus was on the jobs market.Fed policymakers are split between those who expect at least two interest rate cuts later this year and those who anticipate one or fewer.Fed boss Jerome Powell remained cagey, telling reporters decision-makers were approaching it “meeting by meeting.”Paris and Frankfurt stocks were up around one percent in afternoon deals, with German sentiment buoyed by a central bank statement saying Germany should dodge a technical recession in the immediate future.London rose less enthusiastically as the Bank of England kept its main interest rate at four percent in the face of the UK’s stubbornly high inflation, which stands at 3.8 percent.While Britain’s interest rate was kept unchanged, Norway’s central bank cut borrowing costs on Thursday, after a similar move by Canada on Wednesday.In Asia, investors were in a cautious mood on Thursday.Shanghai stocks retreated overall, and Hong Kong’s session also ended in the red.Tokyo closed in the green as the Fed decision boosted the dollar against the yen, helping Japanese exporters.- Key figures at around 2050 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.3 percent at 46,142.42 (close)New York – S&P 500: UP 0.5 percent at 6,631.96 (close)New York – Nasdaq: UP 1.2 percent at 22,470.73 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,228.11 (close) Paris – CAC 40: UP 0.9 percent at 7,854.61 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.4 percent at 23,674.53 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 45,303.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,831.66 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 26,544.85 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1785 from $1.1813 on WednesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3550 from $1.3626Dollar/yen: UP at 147.97 yen from 146.99 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.96  pence from 86.69 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.8 percent at $63.57 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 at $67.44 per barrel

European stock markets rose while Asia was mixed on Thursday after the US Federal Reserve lowered interest rates but left investors wondering how many more cuts were in the pipeline.Paris and Frankfurt stocks rose more than one percent, with German sentiment buoyed by a central bank statement saying Germany should dodge a technical recession in the immediate future.London rose less enthusiastically as the Bank of England kept its own rate at four percent in the face of stubbornly high inflation, which stands at 3.8 percent in the UK.”Although we expect inflation to return to our two-percent target, we’re not out of the woods yet, so any future cuts will need to be made gradually and carefully,” BoE governor Andrew Bailey said in a statement.While Britain’s interest rate was kept unchanged, Norway’s central bank cut borrowing costs on Thursday, after a similar move by Canada on Wednesday.On the heels of recent economic reports showing weaker US jobs growth, the Fed on Wednesday said it would lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points, its first reduction since December.The decision to cut came even as US inflation runs well above policymakers’ two-percent target, but analysts said the main focus was on the jobs market.Fed policymakers are split between those who expect at least two interest rate cuts later this year and those who anticipate one or fewer.Fed boss Jerome Powell remained cagey, telling reporters decision-makers were approaching it “meeting by meeting”.After Powell’s comments, “markets were left feeling less confident on the extent of the likely easing cycle”, said Jim Reid, managing director at Deutsche Bank.US markets ended on a tepid note, with the Dow up but the broad-based S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq down.Asian investors were also cautious.Shanghai stocks retreated overall, and Hong Kong’s session also ended in the red.Tokyo closed in the green as the Fed decision boosted the dollar against the yen and other currencies, helping Japanese exporters.Seoul closed at a record high, fuelled by a tech stock surge led by Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK hynix, which soared nearly six percent, following reports that China banned its tech firms from purchasing Nvidia chips.Chinese chip firms also surged after the Financial Times reported that China’s internet regulator had instructed firms including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips.The state-of-the-art processors are made especially for China.- Key figures at around 1115 GMT -London – FTSE 100: UP 0.2 percent at 9,225.85 pointsParis – CAC 40: UP 1.2 percent at 7,878.11Frankfurt – DAX: UP 1.2 percent at 23,649.85Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 45,303.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,831.66 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 26,544.85 (close)New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 46,018.32 (close)Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1830 from $1.1811 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3628 from $1.3626Dollar/yen: UP at 147.35 yen from 147.00 yenEuro/pound: UP at 86.81 pence from 86.70 penceWest Texas Intermediate: FLAT at $64.07 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: FLAT at $67.97 per barrel

Equities wavered in Asia on Thursday after the Federal Reserve lowered interest rates but left investors wondering how many more cuts were in the pipeline despite boss Jerome Powell warning about the struggling jobs market.On the heels of recent economic reports showing weaker job growth, the US central bank said it would lower borrowing costs 25 basis points, its first reduction since December.The 11-1 decision to cut — US President Donald Trump’s appointee Stephen Miran voted for a 50-point cut — came even as inflation runs well above policymakers’ two percent target, but analysts said the main focus was on jobs. The bank’s closely watched forecast for future rates showed some division on the path forward, with a narrow majority of the 19 officials assessing the outlook eyeing two more cuts but seven projecting none.Powell remained cagey, telling reporters decision-makers were approaching it “meeting by meeting”.Michael Pearce of Oxford Economics said the figures showed a “stark divide” that was “unusual” and that the October move could depend on jobs figures.US markets ended on a tepid note, with the Dow up but S&P 500 and Nasdaq down.Asian investors were also cautious.Tokyo closed in the green as the Fed decision boosted the dollar against the yen and other currencies, helping Japanese exporters, while Shanghai retreated by day’s end. Hong Kong’s session ended in the red as well.Seoul closed at a record high, fuelled by a tech stock surge led by Samsung Electronics and chipmaker SK hynix, which soared nearly six percent, following reports that China banned its tech firms from purchasing Nvidia chips.Taipei and Manila rose, while there were losses in Sydney, Wellington, Singapore and Jakarta.London, Paris and Frankfurt were up.”The selloff in rates markets after the presser suggests that investors were looking for Powell to lean more decisively toward the employment mandate,” said economists at Bank of America.”We stick with our view that the Fed will cut only once more this year, in December.”However, after Powell’s comment that (the) rate cut ‘isn’t just one action’, the risk has risen that the second cut will be pulled forward to October (with potentially a third cut in December).”Jack McIntyre at Brandywine Global, part of Franklin Templeton, said the Fed is “putting more emphasis on the softening in the labour market”.”The weakening labour market will have a deleterious impact on inflation, so the Fed is willing to wait out sticky inflation.”The split in the Fed outlook “probably means more volatility in financial markets next year”, he added. Gold prices held losses around $3,660, having spiked on Wednesday at a record above $3,707.In company news, Chinese chip firms surged after the Financial Times reported that China’s internet regulator had instructed firms including Alibaba and ByteDance to terminate orders for Nvidia’s RTX Pro 6000D chips.The state-of-the-art processors are made especially for China.- Key figures at around 0810 GMT -Tokyo – Nikkei 225: UP 1.2 percent at 45,303.43 (close)Shanghai – Composite: DOWN 1.2 percent at 3,831.66 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: DOWN 1.4 percent at 26,544.85 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.3 percent at 9,232.14Euro/dollar: UP at $1.1825 from $1.1811 on WednesdayPound/dollar: UP at $1.3632 from $1.3626Dollar/yen: UP at 147.26 yen from 147.00 yenEuro/pound: FLAT at 86.74 pence from 86.70 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.3 percent at $63.87 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.2 percent at $67.81 per barrelNew York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 46,018.32 (close)

US stocks finished mixed Wednesday while the dollar moved higher as markets digested the Federal Reserve cutting interest rates for the first time in 2025 and signaling it could enact two more cuts this year.The moves largely corresponded to market expectations and follow recent economic reports showing weaker job growth that Fed Chair Jerome Powell said justified a greater focus on the central bank’s labor market mandate compared with inflation.Equities initially strengthened on the decision, but trading was choppy thereafter as markets digested Powell’s press conference while trying to parse whether his message was more dovish or hawkish than expected.The dollar initially retreated but later strengthened, with gains against the euro and other currencies compared with Tuesday.The bounce in the dollar “could reflect the market’s view that the Fed didn’t sound quite as dovish as markets had hoped,” said James Stanley, senior strategist at Forex.com.”That said, it would be difficult to call a rate meeting when the bank cut rates and warned that rate cuts were expected at the final two meetings of this year as anything but dovish.”Fed policymakers walk a tightrope balancing inflation and labor market risks as they mull changes to interest rates.On Wednesday, the Fed said that “downside risks to employment have risen,” even as inflation has picked up and “remains somewhat elevated.”It noted that job gains have slowed while the unemployment rate — despite being low — also inched up.Based on the projections released Wednesday, policymakers appeared to be close to evenly split between those who expect at least two interest rate cuts later this year and those who anticipate one or fewer.Powell himself reiterated that additional interest rate actions would depend on upcoming economic data.A note from EY-Parthenon economist Gregory Daco said the Fed may proceed “more gradually” and make fewer than two additional cuts in 2025.”An October cut remains possible but would likely require a negative” September jobs report, said Daco, who currently anticipates a second 25-basis-point interest rate cut in December.In Europe, London and Frankfurt stocks ended the day higher while Paris dipped.In Britain, data showing UK inflation held at 3.8 percent in August reinforced expectations that the Bank of England will maintain its key rate on Thursday and for the remainder of 2025.The Bank of Canada cut its key lending rate as expected on Wednesday. Asian stocks traded mixed, after Tuesday’s tepid showing on Wall Street. – Key figures at around 2100 GMT -New York – Dow: UP 0.6 percent at 46,018.32 (close)New York – S&P 500: DOWN 0.1 percent at 6,600.35 (close)New York – Nasdaq: DOWN 0.3 percent at 22,261.33 (close)London – FTSE 100: UP 0.1 percent at 9,208.37 (close)Paris – CAC 40: DOWN 0.4 percent at 7,786.98 (close)Frankfurt – DAX: UP 0.1 percent at 23,359.18 (close)Tokyo – Nikkei 225: DOWN 0.3 percent at 44,790.38 (close)Shanghai – Composite: UP 0.4 percent at 3,876.34 (close)Hong Kong – Hang Seng Index: UP 1.8 percent at 26,908.39 (close)Euro/dollar: DOWN at $1.1811 from $1.1867 on TuesdayPound/dollar: DOWN at $1.3626 from $1.3647Dollar/yen: UP at 147.00 yen from 146.48 yenEuro/pound: DOWN at 86.70 pence from 86.95 penceWest Texas Intermediate: DOWN 0.7 percent at $64.05 per barrelBrent North Sea Crude: DOWN 0.8 percent at $67.95 per barrelburs-jmb/mlm