Finance
New Israel Finance Minister Smotrich promises fiscal responsibility
JERUSALEM, Jan 1 (Reuters) – Bezalel Smotrich took over as Israel’s finance minister on Sunday, pledging fiscal accountability and a lift to competitors whereas working to sort out excessive dwelling prices at a time of elevated inflation and slowing world financial development.
A number of ministries held altering of the guard ceremonies on Sunday after a brand new authorities of proper wing and non secular events was sworn in final Thursday.
“Israel shall be an island of stability and accountability,” the 42-year outdated Smotrich, head of the far-right pro-settler Non secular Zionism celebration, informed Reuters after the ceremony on the finance ministry.
He added that Israel would take all crucial steps to assist financial stability and be the “most secure place” to speculate.
Smotrich’s feedback continued to allay fears he could be guided by Jewish biblical ideas after he mentioned final month that financial technique shall be infused with non secular beliefs specified by the Torah, predicting that this may assist the nation prosper.
He declined to present specifics of his deliberate fiscal coverage, although acknowledged the nation was getting into a “difficult interval” and repeated his perception in free markets pushed by the enterprise sector.
Smotrich mentioned he feared inflation would change into “sticky”, resulting in extra rate of interest rises that might sluggish development, which is already forecast to drop this yr to half of 2022’s 6%.
Inflation is at the moment at a 14-year excessive of 5.3% whereas the benchmark rate of interest has soared to three.25% from 0.1% in April, with a probability of one other hike to three.75% on Monday.
Incoming financial system minister Nir Barkat mentioned he intends to ease the “insufferable load” on companies in Israel, declaring a “struggle on regulation”, which he known as “a most cancers on the financial system”.
In the meantime, Israel’s new police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who was convicted in 2007 of incitement towards Arabs and assist for a Jewish militant group, repeated a line he used on the marketing campaign path saying, “each police officer ought to know that if a terrorist comes to harm you his blood is forfeit”.
His predecessor Omer Bar Lev bristled at having been assigned physique guards as a result of what he described as threats by far-right Jews angered at his feedback about settler violence.
Departing defence minister Benny Gantz suggested his successor Yoav Galant to erect what he known as a “protecting wall” between the navy and politics whereas Galant confused his perception that Iran poses a severe risk to Israel and the area.
New tourism minister Haim Katz promised to advertise tourism within the occupied West Financial institution.
Reporting by Steven Scheer
Extra reporting by Ari Rabinovitch and Dan Williams, Emily Rose; Modifying by Kirsten Donovan
Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.
Finance
Stock market today: Dow hits fresh record, stocks close out strong week as inflation cools
Stocks traded mixed on Friday but closed the week on a high as investors embraced an inflation report seen as crucial to the Federal Reserve’s next decision on interest rate cuts.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (^DJI) gained 0.3% and finished with a fresh record. The S&P 500 (^GSPC) lost 0.1%, but is coming off a record-high close from the prior session. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC) sank about 0.4%.
Despite the mixed trading on Friday, the stock gauges all recorded wins for the week after confidence in the economy returned to the market. The Dow and the S&P added about 0.7%, while the Nasdaq rose 1%.
A solid GDP reading, combined with continued cooling in inflation, has cemented growing conviction that the Fed can nail a “soft landing” as it embarks on a rate-cutting campaign.
The August reading of the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index, the inflation metric favored by the Fed, showed continued cooling in price pressures. The “core” PCE index, which is most closely watched by policymakers, rose 0.1% month over month, lower than Wall Street forecasts.
The PCE reading appeared to goose up bets on another jumbo-sized rate cut from the Fed next month. More than half of traders — around 52% — now expect a 50 basis point cut.
Read more: What the Fed rate cut means for bank accounts, CDs, loans, and credit cards
Elsewhere, China added to its stream of stimulus measures, boosting markets once again. Mainland stocks scored their biggest weekly win since 2008, and luxury stocks are set for their best week in years as hopes for Chinese demand rise. Meanwhile, shares of Alibaba (BABA, 9988.HK), JD.com (JD, 9618.HK), and Meituan (3690.HK, MPNGY) surged amid the buying spree.
Live13 updates
-
-
-
-
Zuckerberg faces deposition in AI copyright lawsuit from Sarah Silverman and other authors
One of the most important debates sparked over the sudden rise of generative AI tools is whether the process of training large language models using existing artistic works is a new form of copyright infringement.
An array of authors, media outlets and other creative professionals have sued to stop AI companies from using their content on the internet, arguing that their works are being used without compensation in order to advance a new technology and market opportunities.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will soon play a direct role in one of the most important lawsuits tackling this subject. Earlier this week a US District Court judge overseeing a suit brought by authors including Sarah Silverman and Ta-Nehisi Coates rejected Meta’s bid to prevent the deposition of Zuckerberg, the Associated Press reported Friday.
Meta had tried to block Zuckerberg’s deposition by arguing that he does not have unique knowledge of the company’s AI operations and other Meta employees could provide the same information. Zuckerberg’s participation will likely draw even more attention to the legal matter, similar to his high-profile appearances on Capitol Hill during Congressional hearings on the role of social media in society.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Finance
Investors eye PCE, Costco shares under pressure: Yahoo Finance
Wall Street is digesting this morning’s release of the latest Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data, the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation. Meanwhile, Costco (COST) shares are under pressure following the wholesale retail giant’s latest quarterly results. Despite recent increases in membership fees, the company fell short of sales expectations. Yahoo Finance’s trending tickers include BlackBerry Limited (BB), SuperMicro Computer (SMCI), and Coinbase (COIN).
Key guests include:
9:05 a.m. ET : Tiffany Wilding, PIMCO Managing Director and Economist
9:30 a.m. ET Angelo Kourkafas, Edward Jones Senior Investment Strategist
10:15 a.m. ET Rich Lesser, BCG Global Chair
10:45 a.m. ET Stuart Kaiser, Citi Head of U.S. Equity Trading Strategy
11:30 a.m. ET Ed Hallen, Klaviyo Chief Product Officer & Co-Founder
Finance
Biodiversity still a low consideration in international finance: Report
Biodiversity-related projects have seen an increase in international funding in recent years, but remain a low priority compared to other development initiatives, according to a new report from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The report found total official development finance (ODF) for such projects grew from $7.3 billion in 2015 to $15.4 billion in 2022. That’s still less than what the nearly 200 governments that signed the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in December 2022 agreed would be needed to halt biodiversity loss: at least $20 billion annually by 2025, and $30 billion annually by 2030.
Government funding made up the bulk of the ODF for biodiversity-related projects in the OECD report, which is welcome news, Campaign for Nature (CfN), a U.S.-based advocacy group, said in a statement.
“We welcome the increase in international biodiversity finance reported in 2022 but that good news is tempered by a range of concerns,” Mark Opel, finance lead at CfN, told Mongabay.
One concern, CfN notes, is that funding specifically for biodiversity as a principal objective declined from $4.6 billion in 2015 to $3.8 billion in 2022. CfN reviewed hundreds of projects from 2022, which formed the source for the OECD’s report, and found that many either had vague descriptions or focused on other policies like agriculture but were counted toward protecting or restoring nature.
“We need to see more emphasis on funding with a primary focus on biodiversity,” Opel said. “So-called ‘principal’ funding that has biodiversity as its primary goal continues to be down since its 2015 peak. Increases in this type of funding are essential to meet the goals of the GBF … These goals cannot be met through funding with biodiversity as only a ‘significant’ goal that mainstreams biodiversity into projects with other primary goals like humanitarian aid or agriculture.”
The report also found that funding for biodiversity-related activities represent just 2-7% of the total ODF portfolio.
“It is concerning that biodiversity considerations still represent a relatively low share of the total official development assistance,” Markus Knigge, executive director of Germany-based nonprofit foundation Blue Action Fund, told Mongabay. He added it was also problematic that most funding came via loans, which have to be repaid, rather than grants, which are often more appropriate for conservation finance.
CfN says grants are preferable to loans because they don’t add to the debt burden of low-income recipient countries.
At the same time, development funding from major donors such as Germany, France, EU institutions, the U.S. and Japan have been cut in recent years.
“We have seen minimal announcements of new international biodiversity finance since [the GBF signing],” Opel said. “We estimate that only the equivalent of $162 million annually has been pledged since [then], which doesn’t come close to filling the $4.6 billion gap between the $15.4 billion in 2022 and the $20 billion commitment in 2025.”
Banner image: Javan lutung by Rhett A. Butler/Mongabay.
-
News1 week ago
Toplines: September 2024 Inquirer/Times/Siena Poll of Pennsylvania Registered Voters
-
Politics1 week ago
New House Freedom Caucus chair reveals GOP rebel group's next 'big fight'
-
Business1 week ago
Cheaper Mortgages and Car Loans: Lower Rates Are on the Horizon
-
Business1 week ago
Video: Federal Reserve Cuts Interest Rates for the First Time in Four Years
-
Politics1 week ago
House committee to demand 'stonewalled' memo detailing Biden agency's 'curious' voter registration work
-
Politics1 week ago
Dem lawmakers push bill to restore funding to UN agency with alleged ties to Hamas: 'So necessary'
-
World1 week ago
What’s South Africa’s new school language law and why is it controversial?
-
News6 days ago
Video: Who Are the Black Swing Voters?