The continued strength of the U.S. economy could require further interest rate increases, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said in a closely watched speech that also highlighted the uncertain nature of the economic outlook.“The Fed is still likely to remain on hold next week, but if the economy continues to surprise to the upside, all bets are off as to what they’ll do after their final two policy meetings of the year,” he said.
Hewlett Packard slumped 3.2% after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway revealed it trimmed its stake in the personal computer and printer company. Berkshire still owns 115.5 million shares in HP after selling 5.5 million earlier this week. Delta Air Lines, meanwhile, became the latest airline to cut its profit forecast because of higher costs. It said higher-than-expected costs for fuel and maintenance are cutting into its earnings, and its stock slipped 0.4%. A day earlier, American Airlines and Spirit Airlines also highlighted the hits they were taking from higher fuel and other costs.
In stock markets abroad, indexes rose in Europe after the European Central Bank raised interest rates Thursday. The hike is supposed to help undercut inflation among the countries that use the euro currency, but it adds pressure to an economy already seen at risk for a recession. Based on comments from the Bank on Thursday, though, some economists said they expect it to be the last of its hikes for a while.Indexes also climbed across much of Asia, with Japan’s Nikkei 225 up 1.4%.