Stocks open higher as inflation measure shows more cooling
Stocks continued to build positive momentum Friday morning as investors welcomed another inflation update that showed pricing pressures easing. The encouraging inflation report also increased market expectations that the Federal Reserve may enact another jumbo rate cut at their next policy meeting in November.
The S&P 500 (^GSPC) rose 0.1%, on the heels of ekeing out a third record-high close this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) gained around 0.2%.
Fri, September 27, 2024 at 2:30 PM GMT+1
Intel stock edges up on news of CHIPS Act funding talks, reports of Arm offer
Intel (INTC) stock rose 1.8% in early trading Friday after a Financial Times report that the chip maker and the US government are on track to finalize $8.5 billion in CHIPS Act funding for the company by the end of the year.
Separately, Bloomberg reported that Arm Holdings (ARM) expressed interest in buying Intel's product business.
The potential offer from Arm, the British chip designer with high-profile partners including Google (GOOG) and Apple (APPL), was rebuked by Intel, unnamed sources told Bloomberg.
Intel has also reportedly been approached by Qualcomm (QCOM) and investment manager Apollo to buy the company in its entirety. Intel shares have climbed on the news over the past week, but are still down more than 50% from the beginning of the year.
Rival Qualcomm floated a friendly takeover, according to the Wall Street Journal, but such a deal could face blowback from antitrust regulators. Analysts have also cast doubt on whether a Qualcomm takeover would make sense for Qualcomm or Intel financially.
Fri, September 27, 2024 at 1:44 PM GMT+1
Fed's preferred inflation gauge shows prices increased less than Wall Street expected in August
The latest reading of the Fed's preferred inflation gauge showed prices increased at a slower pace than expected on a monthly basis in August.
The core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, which strips out the cost of food and energy and is closely watched by the Federal Reserve, rose 0.1 % from the prior month during August, below Wall Street's expectations for 0.2% and the 0.2% reading seen in July.
Over the prior year, prices rose 2.7% in August, matching Wall Street's expectations and coming in higher than 2.6% seen in July.
Read more here.