Aurelia Butler

The country’s industrial output fell 1.8% on a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, by a faster pace than 1.3% in July and 0.5% tipped in a Reuters poll.It rose 1.0% compared with the same month a year earlier, also missing a 1.3% rise seen in the survey and marking the slowest pace since September 2021.Output for the services sector rose 1.5% on month, while retail sales jumped 4.3%, marking the fastest gain since May 2020. More

“I’m quite comfortable” with policymaker projections published last week that show the majority see the Fed’s policy rate rising to 4%-4.5% this year and 4.5%-5% next year, Daly told reporters after an event at Boise State University. “It’s going to take restrictive policy for a duration of time to get clear and convincing evidence that inflation is getting back to 2% — so from my mind, that’s at least through next year.” The Fed last week delivered a third-straight 75-basis-point interest rate increase, lifting its policy rate target range to 3%-3.25%. Asked if global market turmoil could move her to support pausing rate hikes, Daly said global financial markets are just one part of the equation.”I’m really looking at have financial conditions tightened more than the funds rate has tightened, and more than they were projected to be tight, because now people are realizing there’s global tightening everywhere and financial markets are really responding. If that’s the case, then, you know, slowing the pace of increases but still heading for the right terminal rate would be appropriate,” Daly said. “But if inflation continues to print very high and we get no easing of inflation and only modest easing of labor markets, then that’s basically an economy that’s still got a lot of momentum, and inflation is still too high — we’re going to have to keep moving up because we are going to understand that the terminal rate isn’t as close as it would be More

(Reuters) -Micron Technology, the first major chipmaker to sound an alarm about falling demand for PCs and smartphones earlier this year, on Thursday warned of even tougher times ahead and said it was cutting its investments.”We made significant reductions to capex and now expect fiscal 2023 capex to be around $8 billion, down more than 30% year over year,” Chief Executive Sanjay Mehrotra said on an earnings call.Still, Micron (NASDAQ:MU) forecast strong revenue growth in the second half of fiscal 2023 as demand starts to recover early next year.Shares of the Boise, Idaho-based company, which have slumped about 45% so far this year, fell 1.5% in extended trading.Red-hot inflation, rising interest rates, geopolitical tensions and COVID-19 lockdowns in China have led businesses and consumers to rein in expenses, hitting the PC and smartphone market.Micron said it would reduce wafer fabrication equipment investments by 50% in the new fiscal year. Chip equipment maker Applied Materials Inc (NASDAQ:AMAT)’s shares dropped 2% on the news in after-hours trading.”Net times are really bad now, but traditionally production cuts and capex reductions are a sign that memory markets are approaching trough fundamentals,” said Matt Bryson, analyst at Wedbush Securities.Citing a possible turnaround in a few quarters, Kinngai Chan, Summit Insights Group analyst upgraded Micron’s stock to a “buy” recommendation.Micron forecast first-quarter revenue of $4.25 billion, plus or minus $250 million, below Wall Street estimates of $5.62 billion, according Refinitiv data. Adjusted revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 1 was $6.64 billion versus analysts’ expectations of $6.68 billion.Profit outlooks were also grim at 4 cents per share, plus or minus 10 cents, falling below the consensus estimate of 64 cents per share. Fourth-quarter earnings of $1.45 per share beat estimates of $1.30.Micron called the current market challenges “unprecedented” but was confident its scale back would help it navigate the market.Phone brands including Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) have driven down their production volume targets, which “compounded” the challenges for Micron, said Richard Barnett, chief marketing officer of Supplyframe, a supply chain solutions provider.”What has been surprising is the extent of the sharp decline,” said Sumit Sadana, Micron’s chief business officer, in an interview.Micron has further adjusted down its sales outlook for PCs and smartphones by several percentage points in the last few months, Sadana said. PC sales in calendar 2022 will drop by a high teen percentage range from last year and smartphone sales will be down by a high single-digit percentage range, he said. More

Charities have warned that millions of Britons face a “public health crisis” this winter because of high energy bills, despite the government’s £150bn package to limit costs. Calling for extra state support, anti-poverty groups on Friday said there was already evidence of some families cutting back on the quantity and quality of food they were buying in order to pay gas and electricity bills, which will be almost double the level they were in 2021.Energy analysts said there were also early signs of a reduction in energy demand as households and businesses “self-ration” in response to higher prices.A typical yearly household energy bill will rise to £2,500 from October 1, from £1,971 at present, although the precise amount will depend on usage. Prime minister Liz Truss this month announced an unprecedented support package to ensure average domestic bills remain at around that level for the next two years. Households will this winter also receive an additional £400 deduction.But charities warned that about 6.7mn, or more than a fifth of British households, would still be in fuel poverty this winter, up from 4.5mn a year earlier, given the rise in prices. The energy price cap, which dictates bills for 24mn households, was roughly £1,277 based on typical usage last winter.Adam Scorer, chief executive of the charity National Energy Action, said the rise in energy bills was “unaffordable for millions”, with people “already cutting back on the quality of what they eat as well as the quantity”. “The impacts on health and wellbeing are devastating and will only get worse after Saturday’s price rises. It’s a public health emergency,” he added.A YouGov poll of more than 4,000 households published by the NEA on Friday showed 24 per cent of parents had cut the amount of food they were buying. One in ten said they were eating cold meals to reduce energy usage. Laura Sandys, chair and founder of the charity the Food Foundation, said conditions meant “it may no longer be a question of heating or eating for many” this winter.

“The cost of living crisis and energy bill increases will see children living in homes where there is no longer that choice — they will both go hungry and be cold,” she added.Both Scorer and Sandys urged the government to boost support for low-income households. NEA and energy companies such as ScottishPower have long called for a separate, subsidised “social” energy tariff for the very poorest. According to the energy consultancy EnAppSys, electricity demand in Britain over the past few months has fallen 9 per cent compared with the same period last year and 8 per cent compared with 2019.Truss was criticised on Thursday for telling BBC Radio Leeds that households’ “maximum” energy bill this winter would be £2,500. The government’s energy support scheme limits the price per unit of electricity and gas that households will be charged from October 1 at about 34p per kilowatt hour (kWh) for electricity and 10.3 per kWh for gas, inclusive of value added tax. But a household’s overall bill will depend on use.The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy did not immediately respond to a request for comment. More