{"id":50659,"date":"2025-07-17T19:38:34","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:38:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thestockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-react-to-fed-signals-japan-inflation-and-commodity-updates\/50659\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T19:38:34","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T23:38:34","slug":"global-markets-react-to-fed-signals-japan-inflation-and-commodity-updates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/global-markets-react-to-fed-signals-japan-inflation-and-commodity-updates\/50659\/","title":{"rendered":"Global Markets React to Fed Signals, Japan Inflation, and Commodity Updates"},"content":{"rendered":"

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has made a strong case for a 25 basis point interest rate cut<\/strong> at the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) July meeting. Waller cited mounting risks to the economy and a weakening labor market as key justifications for the move. He noted that private sector hiring is "nearly stalling" and that delaying action could force the Fed into more aggressive measures later. Waller believes that the current policy rate is still quite restrictive and can be lowered, suggesting that further 25 basis point cuts could be warranted if underlying inflation remains in check and growth stays slow.<\/p>\n

In Japan, the latest Consumer Price Index (CPI) data for June indicates a moderation in inflationary pressures. Headline CPI registered 3.3% year-over-year<\/strong>, aligning with estimates but down from the prior month's 3.5%. Core CPI, which excludes fresh food, also slowed to 3.3%<\/strong>, falling below the estimated 3.4% and the previous 3.7%. However, core-core CPI<\/em>, which strips out both fresh food and energy, saw a slight increase to 3.4%<\/strong>, exceeding the 3.3% estimate and the prior 3.3%. This mixed picture suggests that while some inflationary pressures are easing, underlying price trends remain a focus for the Bank of Japan.<\/p>\n

Global mining giant BHP Group (BHP<\/a>)<\/strong> released its Q4 FY25 production highlights, showcasing strong performance in key commodities. The company's Western Australia iron ore output totaled 77.48 million tons<\/strong>, with shipments reaching 76.72 million tons<\/strong>. Attributable iron ore production for the quarter was 70.34 million tons<\/strong>, while copper output reached 516,200 tons<\/strong>. BHP also provided its FY25 guidance, forecasting Western Australia iron ore output between 284 million and 296 million tons<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Further elaborating on his economic outlook, Fed Governor Waller stated that there is significant uncertainty around the long-term Fed Funds rate, but 3% appears to be a reasonable estimate<\/strong>. He added that long-term bond yields do not indicate overly loose financial conditions. Waller also addressed the impact of tariffs, estimating that a sustained 10% tariff could raise inflation by 0.75% to 1%<\/strong> this year, but he expects this inflationary impact to fade by next year, allowing the Fed to "look past" it. Waller also expressed a positive view on stablecoins<\/a>, noting their potential to introduce healthy competition<\/em> into the payments landscape and offer alternatives to traditional systems.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, China has affirmed its commitment to crack down on illegal rare-earth exports<\/strong>. This move comes amidst an already tightening export licensing regime for these critical minerals, which are vital for various high-tech and defense industries. The crackdown aims to curb illicit activities and strengthen China's control over its dominant global supply chains for rare-earth elements.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller has made a strong case for a 25 basis point interest rate cut at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[5191,1327,5448,2001,5945,3710,5946,3712,3880,4223,4385,4554,4945],"class_list":["post-50659","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-rare-earths","tag-china","tag-iron-ore","tag-copper","tag-japan-cpi","tag-federal-reserve","tag-bhp-group","tag-cpi","tag-fomc","tag-inflation","tag-economic-outlook","tag-stablecoins","tag-monetary-policy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50659","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50659"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50659\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50659"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50659"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50659"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}