28/07/2025

BIZ & FINANCE MONDAY | JULY 28, 2025

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Fed poised to hold off on rate cuts

Allianz Life says majority of US customers’ data stolen in hack WASHINGTON: Insurance giant Allianz Life said on Saturday that hackers stole the personal information of the majority of its customers, financial professionals and select Allianz Life employees in the United States. The company’s filing with Maine’s attorney general did not immediately provide the number of customers affected. As per the filing, the data breach, which the company described as a hack, occurred on July 16 and was discovered on July 17. The data breach was first reported by TechCrunch . “On July 16, 2025, a malicious threat actor gained access to a third-party, cloud-based CRM system used by Allianz Life Insurance Company of North America (Allianz Life). “The threat actor was able to obtain personally identifiable data related to the majority of Allianz Life’s customers, financial professionals, and select Allianz Life employees, using a social engineering technique,” a spokesperson for Allianz Life told Reuters in an e-mailed statement. This incident is related only to Allianz Life in the United State, which currently has 1.4 million customers, the company said. The insurance giant said it notified the FBI and based on its ongoing investigation that there is no evidence the Allianz Life network or other company systems were accessed, including their policy administration system. – Reuters “There are some fissures in the labour market, but they haven’t turned into fault lines yet,” Sweet said. If the labour market suddenly weakened, he said he would expect the Fed to start cutting interest rates sooner. – AFP one or two people dissenting,” said Nationwide chief economist Kathy Bostjancic. Fed governor Christopher Waller and vice-chairman for supervision Michelle Bowman have both signalled openness to rate cuts as early as July, meaning their disagreement with a decision to hold rates steady would not surprise markets. Bostjancic said too many dissents could be “eyebrow-raising,“ and lead some to question if Powell is losing control of the board, but added: “I don’t anticipate that to be the case.” For Sweet, “the big wild card is the labour market”. There has been weakness in the private sector, while the hiring rate has been below average and the number of permanent job losers is rising.

The comments roiled financial markets. “Powell can see that the administration floated this trial balloon” of ousting him before walking it back on the market’s reaction, Sweet said. “It showed that markets value an independent central bank,” the Oxford Economics analyst added, anticipating Powell will be instead more influenced by labour market concerns. Powell’s term as Fed chair ends in May 2026. Analysts expect to see a couple of members break ranks if the Fed’s rate-setting committee decides for a fifth straight meeting to keep interest rates unchanged. Sweet cautioned that some observers may spin dissents as pushback on Powell but argued this is not necessarily the case. “It’s not out-of-line or unusual to see, at times when there’s a high degree of uncertainty, or maybe a turning point in policy, that you get

But economists expect the Fed to look past the political pressure at its policy meeting. “We’re just now beginning to see the evidence of tariffs’ impact on inflation,” said Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics. “We’re going to see it (too) in July and August, and we think that’s going to give the Fed reason to remain on the sidelines.” Since returning to the presidency in January, Trump has imposed a 10% tariff on goods from almost all countries, as well as steeper rates on steel, aluminum and autos. The effect on inflation has so far been limited, prompting the US leader to use this as grounds for calling for interest rates to be lowered by three percentage points. Currently, the benchmark lending rate stands at a range between 4.25% and 4.50%. Trump also argues that lower rates would save the government money on interest payments, and floated the idea of firing Powell.

from this summer to gauge how prices are being affected. When mulling changes to interest rates, the central bank – which meets tomorrow and on Wednesday – seeks a balance between reining in inflation and the health of the jobs market. But the bank’s data-dependent approach has enraged the Republican president, who has repeatedly criticised Fed chairman Jerome Powell for not slashing rates further, calling him a “numbskull” and “moron.” Most recently, Trump signaled he could use the Fed’s US$2.5 billion (RM10.6 billion) renovation project as an avenue to oust Powell, before backing off and saying that would be unlikely. Trump visited the Fed construction site last Thursday, making a tense appearance with Powell in which the Fed chair disputed Trump’s characterisation of the total cost of the refurbishment in front of the cameras.

WASHINGTON: The US central bank is widely expected to hold off slashing interest rates again at its upcoming meeting, as officials gather under the cloud of an intensifying pressure campaign by President Donald Trump. Policymakers at the independent Federal Reserve have kept the benchmark lending rate steady since the start of the year as they monitor how Trump’s sweeping tariffs are impacting the world’s biggest economy. With Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff approach – and the levies’ lagged effects on inflation – Fed officials want to see economic data o Officials gather under cloud of intensifying pressure campaign by Trump

A Tesla robotaxi driving on the street along South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas. – REUTERSPIC

Tesla updates robotaxi users about chauffeur-style service LOS ANGELES: Tesla sent robotaxi users a new terms-of-service agreement detailing its planned launch in California’s Bay Area, Business Insider reported, citing a screenshot of the notification sent to users on Saturday. which can perform many driving tasks but requires a human driver to pay attention and be ready to take over at all times. Last week, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said on an earnings call that the company was “getting the passengers in a “traditional vehicle” for “charter services.” Tesla recently met with the agency but has not applied for additional permits that would be needed to collect fares or test without a safety driver, Reuters reported earlier last week.

respond to a request for comment. Reuters reported earlier that unlike Alphabet’s Waymo unit, Tesla cannot operate its service using autonomous vehicles in the Bay Area because the electric vehicle maker does not have the required permits and has not applied according to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Tesla said the service would use a variant of its supervised Full Self-Driving software, the report said. For the Bay Area service, Tesla may be able to use its Full Self-Driving (Supervised) feature,

regulatory permission to launch” robotaxis in several markets, including the San Francisco Bay Area. Tesla told the CPUC last Thursday that it plans to offer rides to “friends and family of employees” and “select members of the public” under a permit the company has that allows a human driver to transport

The notification said “If your ride is taking place in California, it is being conducted with a safety driver using Full Self-Driving (Supervised) pursuant to authority from the California Public Utilities Commission”, adding that rides taken outside California are “conducted autonomously”, confirming Reuters reporting from a day earlier. Tesla did not immediately

The next step for Tesla would be to apply for a CPUC license for an autonomous vehicle to pick up passengers with a safety driver, according to a review of California’s autonomous driving regulations. But companies must first operate a pilot phase, where they cannot charge customers. – Reuters