Bloomberg Evening Briefing Americas |
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Economists have long warned of a tariff-driven boost to US inflation, and the next report on consumer prices will put their conviction to the test. For four months, consumer price index readings from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics have come in cooler than what economists predicted, and those forecasters are again warning of acceleration, with June data due Tuesday. Economists see price rises in tariff-exposed categories including furniture, toys, recreational goods and cars. There’s widespread consensus among Federal Reserve officials and private-sector forecasters that inflation will turn higher during the summer as businesses start passing on President Donald Trump’s tariffs to consumers. While many firms chose to initially shield customers by stocking up on inventories in advance or even absorbing part of the higher costs at the expense of lower margins, some are now running out of options. —Natasha Solo-Lyons | |
What You Need to Know Today | |
Trump on Monday said the US will send more weapons to Ukraine and threatened “secondary tariffs” unless Russia agrees to a ceasefire in 50 days. Trump however didn’t provide details—in the past, he’s used the term to describe duties imposed on countries for trading with American adversaries. Matt Whitaker, the US ambassador to NATO, said the planned action effectively represents secondary sanctions on countries buying oil from Russia. “It’s about tariffs on countries like India and China that are buying their oil,” he explained. | |
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Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the company is building several massive data centers to power its artificial intelligence efforts, with the first one expected to come online next year. Meanwhile, fellow tech multibillionaire Elon Musk’s trillion-dollar empire is increasingly flowing the same direction. The Tesla co-founder said he plans to hold a vote by shareholders on whether the electric vehicle maker should invest in xAI, his cash-burning AI startup. That comes shortly after SpaceX, Musk’s rocket-launch company, agreed to invest about $2 billion in his AI firm.
While Musk seeks to boost his AI endeavors, Tesla faces trial over claims it’s partly to blame for a fatal 2019 crash in Florida that occurred when the Autopilot system in a Model S allegedly failed to detect a parked SUV. Family members of the woman killed in the crash, Tesla engineers and auto-safety experts are expected to provide testimony in a federal courtroom in Miami. Only a handful of Tesla crash cases have gone to trial: the company has struck confidential accords to resolve several cases that blamed defective technology for deadly accidents. | |
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Yields for long-term debt from Japan and Germany to the UK and France rose on Monday as growing concern over widening fiscal deficits dented demand. The yield on Japan’s 30-year notes jumped the most in two months and those on similar-maturity German bunds flirted with their loftiest levels in 14 years. For these countries fiscal concerns are usurping central-bank interest-rate policies as the main factor to watch. While the selloff is less pronounced in the US, 30-year yields there still touched the highest in a month. | |
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CoreWeave is expanding a data center that is projected to double the electricity needs of a city near Dallas, another example of the strains that AI workloads are placing on the US power supply. Local officials have grappled with how to handle the increased stress on the electricity grid from the project, according to a late 2024 presentation and emails seen by Bloomberg. The site is being developed by Core Scientific and will be used by OpenAI in Denton, Texas. Last week, CoreWeave announced it would acquire Core Scientific for about $9 billion, in part, to gain direct control of its data centers aimed at supplying AI work. | |
What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow | |
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