Bloomberg - Evening Briefing - Powell’s prediction

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said he needs “more good data” to strengthen the case that inflation is moving toward the central bank’s 2% target. Recent readings may point to “modest further progress” on prices, he said, but apparently Powell wants more. Speaking to Senate lawmakers Tuesday, he was careful not to offer a timeline for interest-rate cuts, which investors are now betting will begin in September. But he emphasized mounting signs of a cooling job market after government data published July 5 showed a third straight month of rising unemployment. “Elevated inflation is not the only risk we face,” he said on the first of two days of testimony. “Reducing policy restraint too late or too little could unduly weaken economic activity and employment.” —Natasha Solo-Lyons

Stocks closed at all-time highs again, with Powell’s remarks doing little to alter bets the Fed will be able to cut interest rates this year. Financial shares led gains on Tuesday, with the S&P 500 up for a sixth straight session—its longest winning run since January. Shorter-term Treasuries outperformed on bets they would more likely benefit from policy easing. Here’s your markets wrap.

The 12 jurors in Bill Hwang’s market manipulation trial over the collapse of Archegos Capital Management have started their deliberations. As the jury in lower Manhattan considers a verdict in one of the most prominent white collar prosecutions of recent years, it will be wading through seven weeks of evidence. That includes the often dramatic testimony of two top executives who turned against Hwang and a parade of managers from the banks that lost billions of dollars working with him.

Bill Hwang, founder of Archegos Capital Management, exits federal court in New York on July 8 Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg

Generic versions of erectile dysfunction drugs Viagra and Cialis, among other medications, were allowed on the US market using potentially problematic data that now calls into question their safety and efficacy, a Bloomberg analysis found. The US Food and Drug Administration alerted brand-name and generic companies June 18 about a research company in India that had falsified the data used in key studies. Data from the researcher, Synapse Labs Pvt. Ltd., may have been used in hundreds of drugs, which remain available for sale on pharmacy shelves and in Americans’ medicine cabinets. 

Donald Trump is resurfacing on the campaign trail after laying low for days while a media firestorm enveloped President Joe Biden over his debate performance. Biden, 81, has continued to fend off some calls from within his own party to step aside so a younger nominee can face Trump, 78. But even as congressional Democrats argued over whether to stand behind Biden’s candidacy, Biden’s campaign and lawmakers have found a unified strategy: attacking Trump and a Republican-aligned think tank that plans to eviscerate federal agencies if he gets a second term.

Former US President Donald Trump speaks during a campaign event  in Chesapeake, Virginia, on June 28 Photographer: Parker Michels-Boyce/Bloomberg

A solar panel maker in Georgia that has booked $230 million in federal tax credits stands to collect hundreds of millions more as it pursues plans to create the first end-to-end solar manufacturing chain in the US, easing reliance on China and related concerns about the use of forced labor. But at least through the end of this year, the Qcells solar plant, which South Korea’s Hanwha Solutions opened in Dalton, Georgia, in 2019 and almost doubled in capacity last year, is making panels with base components from China. 

Houston is set for a dangerous bout of heat following Hurricane Beryl’s battering as more than 2 million homes and businesses remain without power around the nation’s fourth-largest city. The region is under a heat advisory, with heat index values forecast as high as 106F (41C), the US National Weather Service said, warning of the possibility of illness under the extreme conditions. Actual temperatures will exceed 90F.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi called on his “friend” Vladimir Putin to seek a peaceful end to Russia’s war on Ukraine, a day after Putin’s forces attacked a children’s hospital in Kyiv as part of a missile attack that reportedly killed dozens of people all over the country. “Loss of life leads to despair especially when children are killed,” Modi told Putin in televised comments Tuesday at the start of their formal talks in the Kremlin. “Resolution can’t be found on the battlefield, peace needs to be pursued through dialog and diplomacy.”

Vladimir Putin and Narendra Modi embrace during a meeting outside Moscow on July 8. Photographer: Gavriil Grigorov/AFP

• Singapore’s CEO “hell camps” teach value of teamwork and resilience.
• Paris airport workers plan to strike in run-up to Olympics.
• Bobby Jain’s complex hedge fund debut spawns fans and doubters.
• Family offices of the ultra-rich shed privacy with activist bets.
• Bloomberg Opinion: Texas hurricane makes mockery of climate deniers.
• Bloomberg Opinion: The US housing crisis is really about low-wage jobs.
• The 18 best pasta dishes in New York City, picked by top chefs.

Summer travel in the northern hemisphere may be well underway, but there’s still time to make better airport choices for the second half of 2024. The latest report by AirHelp shows US airports have made significant strides in the past year—with one American hub breaking into the top rankings. Here are the 10 best airports in the world and the 10 best in the US. 

The world’s best airport in 2024 is Hamad International in Qatar. Photographer: Alamy/www.alamy.com

Get the Bloomberg Evening Briefing: If you were forwarded this newsletter, sign up here to receive Bloomberg’s flagship briefing in your mailbox daily—along with our Weekend Reading edition on Saturdays.