Fed Chairman Jerome Powell early this month described business investment as appearing to have “slowed notably,” saying this might “reflect concerns about trade tensions and slower growth in the global economy.”
Boeing also reported its biggest-ever quarterly loss on Wednesday due to the spiralling cost of resolving issues with its 737 MAX and warned it might have to shut production of the grounded jet completely if it runs into new hurdles with global regulators to getting its best-selling aircraft back in the air.
“Nevertheless, with the incoming global data still deteriorating and domestic capacity utilization falling, we still expect overall business investment to remain weak in the second half of the year,” said Michael Pearce, a senior US economist at Capital Economics in New York.