InvestMacro

By JustForex

The US stock indices traded without a single trend. At the close of trading yesterday, the Dow Jones Index (US30) decreased by 0.26%, while the S&P 500 Index (US500) lost 0.08%. The NASDAQ Technology Index (US100) added 0.41%.

The US Labor Department reported yesterday that about 260,000 people filed unemployment claims during the previous week, 6,000 more than the previous week. The Nonfarm Payrolls report today will also serve as an overview of the Federal Reserve’s likely path for monetary policy, as the Central Bank emphasized labor market strength as evidence that the economy remains resilient and capable of resisting further rate hikes.

Fed spokeswoman Loretta Mester said yesterday that she would like to see the rate rise to just above 4% at the end of the interest rate cycle. However, analysts predict that the Fed will stop at 3.5-3.75%. Mester added that the Fed could raise rates by 75 bps in September, but it could well be 50 bps, with the Committee guided by inflation and labor market data.

Coinbase stock jumped more than 40% yesterday. The cryptocurrency exchange announced a partnership agreement with BlackRock (BLK) to provide institutional clients access to cryptocurrency trading and storage services.

Stock markets in Europe were mostly up on Thursday. German DAX (DE30) gained 0.55%, French CAC 40 (FR40) jumped by 0.64%, Spanish IBEX 35 (ES35) added 0.23%, British FTSE 100 (UK100) closed on the rise by 0.03%.

The Bank of England raised its interest rate by 0.5% as expected. The rate is now at 1.75%, higher than the ECB (0.5%) but lower than the US Federal Reserve (2.5%), the Canadian Central Bank (2.5%), and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (2.5%). Having made its most significant rate hike in nearly 30 years, the Bank of England suggested that it may be less decisive in raising rates in the coming months. The report also indicates that under the weight of skyrocketing inflation, the UK will be in recession for more than a year.

Russia is beginning to drag out the process of launching the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. Moscow is demanding additional documents confirming that the equipment used in the repairs is not subject to sanctions. Thus, the energy problems in Europe are exacerbated.

On Thursday, US crude oil prices fell below $90 a barrel for the first time since Russia invaded Ukraine. The drop to its lowest level since February was driven by lingering fears that global growth slow would hurt oil demand. Fears of a recession intensified after the Bank of England warned of a prolonged recession and expectations of a one-year recession.

Saudi Arabia and the UAE are ready to provide a “significant increase” in oil production only if winter’s global supply crisis worsens.

Gold prices reached their highest level a month after rising more than 1.5% yesterday. A weaker dollar helped support gold even as US Treasury yields rose.

Asian markets traded higher yesterday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 (JP225) gained 0.69%, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng (HK50) jumped by 2.06%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (AU200) was down by 0.01%. Asian stock indices rebounded strongly after several declines, as strong earnings reports in the US boosted optimism about the corporate outlook. Investors in the region are preparing for a slew of earnings reports next week from Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean companies.

The Monetary Policy report from the RBA showed that Australia’s economy would slow down sharply soon due to a sharp rise in inflation. A full percentage point cut economic growth forecasts for this year to 3.25%, and for 2023 and 2024 by about a quarter point to 1.75%. The inflation forecast has also increased from 5.9% to 7.75%, requiring further interest rate increases.

S&P 500 (F) (US500) 4,152.02 −3.15 (−0.076%)

Dow Jones (US30) 32,727.19 −85.31 (−0.26%)

DAX (DE40) 13,662.68 +75.12 (+0.55%)

FTSE 100 (UK100) 7,448.06 +2.38 (+0.032%)

USD Index 105.69 −0.81 (−0.76%)

• – Australia RBA Monetary Policy Statement (m/m) at 04:30 (GMT+3);
• – German Industrial Production (m/m) at 09:00 (GMT+3);
• – US Nonfarm Payrolls (m/m) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
• – US Unemployment Rate (m/m) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
• – Canada Unemployment Rate (m/m) at 15:30 (GMT+3);
• – Canada Ivey PMI (m/m) at 17:00 (GMT+3).

By JustForex

This article reflects a personal opinion and should not be interpreted as an investment advice, and/or offer, and/or a persistent request for carrying out financial transactions, and/or a guarantee, and/or a forecast of future events.

By Erica D. Walker, Brown University 

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to [email protected].

If all of the vehicles in the world were to convert to electric, would it be quieter? – Joseph, age 10, Chatham, New Jersey

If everyone everywhere received a free electric vehicle at the same time – and owners were required to travel at really slow speeds across well-maintained roads – the world would sound different.

But that doesn’t mean it would be quieter.

People can have different feelings about the same sound. As the founder of Community Noise Lab at Brown University’s School of Public Health, I am particularly interested in how we, as humans, decide what is a sound and what is a noise – which is what we call unwanted sounds. We perceive the sounds that we experience in our daily lives in many ways, from quiet to loud. And they can make us feel happy, angry or many things in between.

These feelings can affect our health by relaxing or stressing us. Studies also show that chronic exposure to noise can affect your sleep and hearing and contribute to health problems like heart disease.

How loud are cars?

We know that gasoline-powered cars make a lot of noise, especially on highways where they can travel at high speeds. In 1981, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated that nearly 100 million people nationwide were exposed to traffic noise every year that was loud enough to be harmful to their health. At the time, this was about 50% of the U.S. population.

Many factors influence how loud a car is on the road, including its design, how fast it travels and physical road conditions. On average, cars moving at around 30 mph on local roads will produce sound levels ranging from 33 to 69 decibels. That’s the range between a quiet library and a loud dishwasher.

For cars traveling at typical speeds on the interstate, which is around 70 mph, sound levels range up to 89 decibels. That’s equivalent to two people shouting their conversation at each other.

Electric and hybrid gas/electric cars emit very low sounds at low speeds because they don’t have internal combustion engines producing noise and vibrations. To ensure that pedestrians will hear electric and hybrid vehicles coming, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration requires these vehicles to emit sounds ranging from 43 to 64 decibels when they are moving at less than 18.6 mph. Each manufacturer uses its own warning sounds.

At high speeds, there may not be much difference between gas-powered cars and EVs or hybrids. That’s because other factors like tire and wind noise become louder as cars move faster.

Quieter streets for everyone

Infrastructure also contributes to street noise. Cracks, depressions and holes in roads can increase sound levels as cars travel across them.

Lower-income communities tend to have poorer-quality streets and highways. So failing to fix roads could drown out any improvements in a community’s soundscape from EVs, quite literally.

Another way to reduce traffic noise would be to build more bike lanes and paths in less-wealthy communities, which often lack them, and encourage people to substitute this cheaper, healthier, cleaner and quieter mode of transportation when they can.

Electric vehicles are still out of reach for many people because most models cost more than gas-powered cars. So in reality, the benefits of switching to electric-powered vehicles – such as lower fuel costs, cleaner air and somewhat quieter streets – are going now mainly to people who live in wealthier communities and can afford EVs.

That inequitable distribution of benefits is what the EPA calls an environmental injustice: a situation in which everyone doesn’t have the same degree of protection from environmental and health hazards. To share those benefits more equally, electric vehicles will have to become as affordable as gas-powered versions.

Many people think of noise as a nuisance that’s less urgent than other, more pressing environmental issues like air and water pollution. As a result, governments fail to plan for noise, measure it, mitigate it or regulate it in any meaningful way.

In fact, noise is a significant environmental stressor that negatively affects everyone’s health and well-being, especially those who are most vulnerable. At Community Noise Lab, we aim to shed light on the public health implications of noise, argue for more holistic measurements of sound, and study noise together with other environmental pollutants like water and air pollution, working alongside vulnerable communities across the United States.

Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to [email protected]. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.

And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.

About the Author:

Erica D. Walker, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Brown University

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.