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All three main US share indexes have hit intra-day record highs after Fed boss Jerome Powell hinted that the bank could cut rates to support the US economy.

A short while ago the S&P 500 breached 3,000 points, the Dow went above 29,983, and the Nasdaq was in record territory too.

But Neil Wilson of Markets.com is unconvinced it will last.

"All this when we expect a slowing in earnings growth and worries about the outlook for earnings per share growth. Investors are buying the Fed put hook, line and sinker. Keep drinking down the Kool-Aid."

Jerome Powell's comments around slowing growth "against a backdrop of muted inflation and elevated uncertainties" means we should expect one or two “insurance rate cuts” this year, says Michael Swell of Goldman Sachs Asset Management.

However he thinks the Fed's dovishness is "slightly surprising" given the trade truce after last month’s G20 meeting and the recent rebound in US employment figures.

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As expected Wall Street has opened higher.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 68.47 points, or 0.26%, to 26,851.96.

The S&P 500 climbed 9.67 points, or 0.32%, to 2,989.30.

And the Nasdaq gained 41.47 points, or 0.51%, to 8,183.20.

The Fed is likely to cut rates multiple times in the coming months, not just in July, says Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

"Our expectations is that [US] GDP growth will fall below 1% annualised in the second half of this year and, as a result, we expect the Fed to cut interest rates by an additional 25bp in both this December and March next year."

This will provide insurance against "downside risks" identified by the Fed, he says, such as slowing global growth and trade tensions which are weighing on the US economy.

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The dollar may have dropped but US stock futures have turned positive after Jerome Powell's comments.

A short while ago Dow e-minis were up 101 points at 26,783.49 while S&P 500 futures had gained 12.5 points to 2,979.63.

Nasdaq minis were 53.75 points higher at 7,826.86.

“A rate cut in July is now all but certain," said James McCann, senior global economist at Aberdeen Standard Investments.

"The strength of last week’s jobs number did lead some to think that the Fed may pause for thought. It’s clear from this that they won’t.

“There’s an element here of the Fed wanting to take pre-emptive action. From an inflation perspective, the picture certainly seems sour enough to warrant a reaction.

"But from a growth perspective, there’s nothing in the data that suggests a rate cut is strictly necessary. It’s more of a case of them being worried about what might happen to growth in the future."

Markets are interpreting those comments from Jerome Powell as a sure signal the Fed will cut rates this month.

Richard Flynn of Charles Schwab explains: "Recession risk is rising, but markets are hoping that even a small rate cut later this month will keep a downturn at bay.

"Against a backdrop of looser monetary policy globally, declining US business confidence and stagnant capex [capital expenditure], plus no end in sight to the US-China trade dispute, lower rates - which tend to spur borrowing and business investment - could help balance out the negative effects of slowing growth and an ongoing trade war."

The markets reacted instantly to those comments from the head of the US Federal Reserve, Jerome Powell.

The dollar weakened against the euro and the pound.

The pound gained a quarter of a cent and rose above $1.25.

The euro rose by almost a third of a cent to trade around $1.1243.

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Prepared remarks by US Federal Reserve's chairman Jerome Powell ahead of his appearances before the Senate and House of Representatives have been released, showing that the central bank might well be open to cutting interest rates.

Mr Powell mentioned that uncertainty over how long the US-China trade war will continue leading to a downturn in business investment, together with persistently weak inflation and slower growth in other major economies, were weighing on the Fed's "baseline outlook" of continued US growth, and the central bank stood ready to "act as appropriate".

"Apparent progress on trade turned to greater uncertainty, and our contacts in business and agriculture reported heightened concerns over trade developments," said Mr Powell, noting that business investment, an important component of economic growth, "seems to have slowed notably" in recent months.

"There is a risk that weak inflation will be even more persistent than we currently anticipate" and not prove as transitory as Fed officials have often insisted, he added.

Since December, the Fed has kept its benchmark overnight interest rate in a range of between 2.25% and 2.5%.

Superdry founder Julian Dunkerton (pictured) says he is trying to "steady the ship" after the fashion retailer reported an £85m annual loss.

Executives have been speaking to analysts after those figures

Over the next two years 40% of its shop leases come up for renewal offering it an opportunity to renegotiate terms with landlords.

“We expect to work symbiotically with landlords,” executives told analysts on a conference call.

So despite that hefty £85m loss reported this morning for the last year, the retailer’s not predicting it will have to close stores, or not many. Closures will be “very minimal” they said.

Their belief is that landlords want Superdry in their shopping centres and on their High Streets and will be happy to talk terms.

The economic forecasters at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) say the UK economy is on course to contract by 0.1% in the second quarter of 2019.

But, they add: "Two quarters of contraction would mean that the economy is in a technical recession, but the initial outlook for the third quarter of 2019 is for growth of 0.2%".

Board directors of Dixons Carphone have asked for their annual bonuses to be paid in shares and deferred for two years.

That is one of the items outlined in the annual report, external which says the decision was made because they were "mindful" that the results of their attempts to make changes to the business are "not yet reflected in the share price". (See chart above.)

As of next year, the company is planning to introduce such a deferral of bonuses, along with other measures including ending an ability to offer new-joiners pension contributions of 20% of their salaries.

Chief executive Alex Baldock was paid £1.7m, including the £619,000 bonus while new finance director Jonny Mason received £626,000.

They will however get their long-term bonus award of shares - based on performance over the next three years - of 250% of their salaries, the committee said. (Vodafone has made an announcement about this, see earlier post.)

This was after the "[remuneration] committee gave detailed consideration as to whether the overall size of the award should be scaled back in response to the fall in share price".

Among the factors taken into consideration was their decision to defer their annual bonuses.

Around 31,000 staff also received share-linked bonus awards.

Image source, Reuters

Oil executives were invited to the Vatican in Rome for an audience with Pope Francis last month where he told them climate change threatens the future of the "human family".

Mark Moody-Stuart, who used to be chairman of Shell, has written to the Financial Times, , externalin a personal capacity, saying that the meeting had produced a commitment for "economically meaningful carbon pricing regimes".

He says he is puzzled why campaigners do not support such efforts to push up the price of energy they oppose.

"I recently asked a committed Extinction Rebel why he did not leap at the idea of supporting a carbon tax at a price of, say, $100 a tonne which would have a real effect. The answer was not clear. Surely It cannot be simply that the oil and gas industry wants it so it must be a bad idea?".

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Supermarket Sweep is to return to UK television, with Rylan Clark-Neal taking over from the late Dale Winton.

Supermarket Sweep ran from 1993 to 2001 on ITV. It was subsequently revived in 2007, again with Winton as host.

Producer Thames said the new show would air on ITV2 and would feature "new games, challenges and a sprinkle of celebrity stardust".

Contestants on the show are tasked with running round a supermarket collecting items to win a cash prize

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The Pubs Code Adjudicator Paul Newby and the deputy Fiona Dickie are launching their first investigation into Star Pubs & Bars, which is part of the Heineken Group.

The adjudicators say have "reasonable grounds" to suspect that Star has failed to comply with the pubs code by using "unreasonable stocking terms" when relationships with pubs changes.

This is reference to when pubs tenants with a "tied lease" change their arrangements and move to "market rent only" tenancies.

Ms Dickie said: "Where tenants of a brewer business regulated by the pubs code exercise their right to ask to go free-of-tie they may still be required to stock that brewer’s beer or cider within limits set out under the Pubs Code. This investigation concerns whether Star has been going beyond those limits by offering non-compliant terms".

The deadline for submission of evidence is 5pm on 7 August, external and the adjudicator wants to know if tenants were only allowed to stock Heineken keg beer and any other requirement to stock an "unreasonably high proportion" of Heineken brands or brands in which Heineken has a commercial interest.

Kevin Peachey
Personal finance reporter

Image source, Science Photo Library

Satisfaction levels among consumers has fallen for a fourth consecutive year, according to a survey.

Some 14.3% of consumers said they had experienced a problem with an organisation, according to the Institute of Customer Service (ICS).

The brand that rated highest for customer service was bank First Direct. The ratings were based on getting things correct the first time, as well as customer ethos and ethics.

"Consumers are placing increasing importance on trust, transparency, emotional connection and ethical behaviour," said Jo Causon, chief executive of the ICS.

Vodafone's chief executive Nick Read and finance director Margherita Della Valle have "voluntarily requested" that an award of shares under a long-term bonus scheme be cut by 20%.

"This was requested to reflect the low valuation of the share price following its reduction over the year," the company said.

They will get 3.9m and 2.4m shares respectively.

The share price is 131p so that's about £5m of shares for Read - although the precise value will depend on the performance of the company in the coming years and the future share price.