US stocks open mixed ahead of Fed announcement

22:52, June 10, 2020

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  US stocks end mostly down as Fed keeps interest rates low

  The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is pictures on May 26, 2020 at Wall Street in New York City. (Photo by AFP)Wall Street stocks mostly fell and the dollar pulled back Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled it expects to keep interest rates low in light of the shaky economic outlook.The Fed confirmed it will keep the benchmark interest rate at zero until the recovery from coronavirus shutdowns is underway, while projecting the US economy would contract by 6.5 percent this year and unemployment would fall to 9.3 percent from its current 13.3 percent."The ongoing public health crisis will weigh heavily on economic activity, employment and inflation in the near term, and poses considerable risk to the economic outlook over the medium term," the central bank said in a statement after a two-day meeting.Most Fed policymakers expect the key rate to stay the same through 2022 at least, according to the central banks forecast.Both the Dow and S&P 500 finished lower following a volatile session that punished banks, energy companies and other sectors, while the Nasdaq surged to its third straight record, ending above 10,000 for the first time.Earlier, European stocks had also finished lower following a gloomy forecast from the OECD.- Cautious tone -Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Fridays Labor Department data showing an unexpected drop in unemployment was a "welcome surprise," but cautioned that "its a long road" back after more than 20 million workers were displaced by coronavirus shutdowns.Powells tone was "practical," said Briefing.com analyst Patrick OHare."Hes very cognizant of the fact that the recovery might not unfold as quickly as the stock market seems to think it will," OHare said.The Feds pledge of low interest rates for years to come "added octane to the dollars downturn," said Joe Manimbo, senior market analyst at Western Union Business Solutions, addin...

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  US stocks open lower on renewed virus fears

  File photoWall Street stocks fell in opening trading Monday following a fresh coronavirus outbreak in China and increased case counts in someUS states that raised doubts about the economic recovery.A couple of minutes into trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average wasdown 2.7 percent at 24,926.57.The broad-based S&P 500 shed 2.2 percent to 2,975.69, while the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index fell 1.6 percent to 9,437.49.

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  Italy opens borders ahead of neighbors, beckoning tourists

  Andrea Monti hugs his girlfriend Katherina Scherf who just arrived from Duesseldorf, Germany at Romes Fiumicino airport, Wednesday, June 3, 2020. (Photo: AP)Italy officially ended its long coronavirus lockdown Wednesday, opening regional and international borders in a bid to boost summer tourism, but found itself alone as European neighbors viewed the move as premature and remained wary of visitors from Italy.Italy’s long-awaited internal and external opening after nearly three months allowed residents to finally reunite with friends and family members, and brought a flood of French shoppers across the border for less expensive groceries and cigarettes. But normalcy was a long way off.Giuseppina Niglio drove 8 1/2 hours from Salerno, south of Naples, to the border with Switzerland to see her children, Roberta di Giacomo, 24, and Alessandro di Giacomo, 21. The siblings study at the musical conservatory in Lugano, Switzerland. They crossed into Italy on foot with their luggage, her cello and his violin.“I can say that the drive we did from 4 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. just flew by,″ Niglio said. ”We had a lot of adrenaline. We couldn’t wait to see them and hug them again.”Italy is the first European country to fully open its international borders, dropping the 14-day quarantine requirement for visitors from most of Europe. Many European nations are waiting until June 15 to open their borders, and some much later than that.Who gets to go where in Europe this summer is shaping up to be determined by where you live, what passport you carry and even how hard hit your region has been during the pandemic.Italian Premier Giuseppe Conte criticized as “discriminatory” moves by Austria and Greece to limit the arrivals of Italians in their countries, due to concerns over the level of contagion in some regions, notably Lombardy.“The health emergency is now behind us,” Conte said during a news conference, adding that he was working to reverse restrictions on Italian travelers.Indeed,...