U.S. stocks wobbled lower as Wall Street questioned whether the U.S. job market has slowed by just enough to get the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates to help the economy, or by so much that a downturn may be on the way. After rising to an early gain Friday, the S&P 500 erased it and fell 0.3% from the all-time high set the day before. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dropped 0.5%, and the Nasdaq composite was nearly flat. Still, more stocks rose than fell. The action was more decisive in the bond market, where yields tumbled following discouraging data on the job market.
Wall Street rallied to its best day in months after the head of the Federal Reserve hinted that cuts to interest rates may be on the way. The S&P 500 leaped 1.5% Friday for its first gain in six days and finished just shy of its all-time high set last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 846 points to its own record after topping its prior high from December. The Nasdaq composite jumped 1.9%. Treasury yields tumbled in the bond market as traders upped their bets that the Fed will cut its main interest rate at its next meeting in September.
President Donald Trump wants the U.S. government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realized, the investment would deepen the Trump administration’s involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more U.S. companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers. The Associated Press takes a closer look at how this unusual deal appears to be on the verge of getting done.
U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on Tuesday confirmed the U.S. government is vying for a 10% stake in Silicon Valley pioneer Intel in an unusual deal that would deepen the Trump administration’s financial ties with major computer chip manufacturers and punctuate a dramatic about-face from the president’s recent push to oust the company’s CEO. The ambitions that Lutnick confirmed in a televised interview with CNBC came the day after various news outlets reported on the negotiations between the Trump administration and Intel. The talks come on the heels of a $2 billion investment that Japanese technology giant SoftBank Group announced late Monday.