Take Two: US inflation eases; France to begin new parliamentary session
- 12 July 2024 (3 min read)
What do you need to know?
US annual inflation eased to 3.0% in June from 3.3% in May. The latest reading marks the joint slowest pace of US price rises for three years. Federal Reserve (Fed) Chair Jerome Powell said ahead of the data’s release that the central bank has made “considerable progress” in bringing inflation further towards the Fed’s 2% target, but that “more good data” would be necessary before interest rates could be cut. Powell also said last week that the US is “no longer an overheated economy”. The week also saw both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq hit record highs on the hopes of an interest rate cut.
Around the world
France’s new parliamentary session begins this week with newly elected members of the National Assembly taking their seats amid political uncertainty. The second round of the French parliamentary election brought a surprise victory for left-wing alliance, the New Popular Front, but no single party won an absolute majority, resulting in a hung parliament. President Emmanual Macron’s centrist party came second, and the far-right National Rally third – despite having taken the lead in the first round. France’s CAC Index fell 0.9% in the week to Thursday’s close.1
Figure in focus: €220m
An accelerator programme that supports start-ups to find carbon dioxide removal solutions has helped projects throughout Europe raise more than €220m and is now turning to India to help businesses there mitigate global warming. The Amsterdam-based programme, called remove, is backed by organisations including the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, the Sustainability in Business Lab and Carbon Removal Partners. Meanwhile average global temperatures have risen at least 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels for 12 consecutive months, new data from the European Union’s climate change service showed. Temperatures between July 2023 and June 2024 were the highest on record, sitting at 1.64°C greater than their pre-industrial average.
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Words of wisdom
New-energy vehicles: A term used by China’s government which encompasses all plug-in vehicles, powered either fully or predominately by electricity, including battery electric vehicles (EVs), hybrids and fuel cell electric vehicles. Newly registered new-energy vehicles (NEVs) in China rose almost 40% in the first half of the year to nearly 4.4 million, bringing the number of NEVs on the country’s roads to 24.7 million at the end of June, according to official figures. Analysts attributed the growth to government support, increased competition and improved infrastructure. Meanwhile, new European Union tariffs on some Chinese EVs came into force earlier this month.
What’s coming up?
China’s Third Plenum, a key government policy-setting meeting, begins on Monday, when China also publishes its second quarter GDP growth figures. In the US the Republican National Convention begins. On Tuesday, Canada releases its inflation rate for June, with the Eurozone and the UK following with their own respective data on Wednesday. The European Central Bank convenes to set interest rates on Thursday. The UK issues its unemployment rate on the same day, while Japan publishes inflation data on Friday.
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