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Tag: Lip-Bu Tan

  • Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

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    NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time to be looking for a job.

    Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, sizable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.

    Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And the record 43-day government shutdown also left many to work without paychecks.

    The impasse put key economic data on hold, too. In a delayed report released Thursday, the Labor Department said U.S. employers added a surprising 119,000 jobs in September. But unemployment rose to 4.4% — and other troubling details emerged, including revisions showing the economy actually lost 4,000 jobs in August. There’s also growing gender and racial disparities. The National Women’s Law Center notes women only accounted for 21,000 of September’s added jobs — and that Black women over the age of 20, in particular, saw unemployment climb to 7.5% for the month.

    The shutdown has left holes in more recent hiring numbers. The government says it won’t release a full jobs report for October.

    Here are some of the largest job cuts announced recently:

    Verizon

    In November, Verizon began laying off more than 13,000 employees. In a staff memo announcing the cuts, CEO Dan Schulman said that the telecommunications giant needed to simplify operations and “reorient” the entire company.

    General Motors

    General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio in late October, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles. Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs” at the start of next year.

    Paramount

    In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount plans to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce. Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs in late October, according to a source familiar with the matter.

    In November, Paramount also announced plans to eliminate 1,600 positions as part of divestitures of Televisión Federal in Argentina and Chilevision in Chile. And the company said another 600 employees had chosen voluntary severance packages as part of a coming push to return to the office full-time.

    Amazon

    Amazon said last month that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

    UPS

    United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs. UPS also closed daily operations at 93 leased and owned buildings during the first nine months of this year.

    Target

    Target in October moved to eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally. The retailer said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts.

    Nestlé

    In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance amid headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years.

    Lufthansa Group

    In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

    Novo Nordisk

    Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce. The company — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring, as it works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

    ConocoPhillips

    Oil giant ConocoPhillips announced plans in September to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs. Between 2,600 and 3,250 workers were expected to be impacted, with most layoffs set to take place before the end of 2025.

    Intel

    Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business. In July, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

    Microsoft

    In May, Microsoft began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years. The company has cited “organizational changes,” but the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

    Procter & Gamble

    In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce. The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures.

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  • Layoffs are piling up, raising worker anxiety. Here are some companies that have cut jobs recently

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    NEW YORK (AP) — It’s a tough time for the job market.

    Amid wider economic uncertainty, some analysts have said that businesses are at a “no-hire, no fire” standstill. That’s caused many to limit new work to only a few specific roles, if not pause openings entirely. At the same time, some sizeable layoffs have continued to pile up — raising worker anxieties across sectors.

    Some companies have pointed to rising operational costs spanning from President Donald Trump’s barrage of new tariffs and shifts in consumer spending. Others cite corporate restructuring more broadly — or, as seen with big names like Amazon, are redirecting money to artificial intelligence.

    Federal employees have encountered additional doses of uncertainty, impacting worker sentiment around the job market overall. Shortly after Trump returned to office at the start of the year, federal jobs were cut by the thousands. And many workers are now going without pay as the U.S. government shutdown nears its fourth week.

    “A lot of people are looking around, scanning the job environment, scanning the opportunities that are available to them — whether it’s in the public or private sector,” said Jason Schloetzer, professor business administration at Georgetown University’s McDonough School. “And I think there’s a question mark around the long-term stability everywhere.”

    Government hiring data is on hold during the shutdown, but earlier this month a survey by payroll company ADP showed that the private sector lost 32,000 jobs in September.

    Here are some companies that have moved to cut jobs recently.

    General Motors

    General Motors moved to lay off about 1,700 workers across manufacturing sites in Michigan and Ohio on Wednesday, as the auto giant adjusts to slowing demand for electric vehicles.

    Hundreds of additional employees are reportedly slated for “temporary layoffs.” And GM has recently moved to downsize other parts of its workforce, too — including 200 layoffs mostly impacting engineers in Detroit, and other 300 job cuts at a Georgia IT Innovation Center, which it is also shuttering.

    Paramount

    In long-awaited cuts just months after completing its $8 billion merger with Skydance, Paramount is going to lay off about 2,000 employees — about 10% of its workforce.

    Paramount initiated roughly 1,000 of those layoffs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. The rest of the cuts will be made at a later date.

    Amazon

    Amazon will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs as the online retail giant ramps up spending on artificial intelligence.

    Amazon said Tuesday that it will cut about 14,000 corporate jobs, close to 4% of its workforce, as the online retail giant ramps up spending on AI while trimming costs elsewhere. A letter to employees said most workers would be given 90 days to look for a new position internally.

    CEO Andy Jassy previously said he anticipated generative AI would reduce Amazon’s corporate workforce in the coming years. And he has worked to aggressively cut costs overall since 2021.

    UPS

    United Parcel Service has disclosed about 48,000 job cuts this year as part of turnaround efforts, which arrive amid wider shifts in the company’s shipping outputs.

    In a Tuesday regulatory filing, UPS said it’s cut about 34,000 operational positions — and the company announced another 14,000 role reductions, mostly within management. Combined, that’s much higher than the roughly 20,000 cuts UPS forecast earlier this year.

    Target

    Last week, Target that it would eliminate about 1,800 corporate positions, or about 8% of its corporate workforce globally.

    Target said the cuts were part of wider streamlining efforts — with Chief Operating Officer Michael Fiddelke noting that “too many layers and overlapping work have slowed decisions.” The retailer is also looking to rebuild its customer base. Target reported flat or declining comparable sales in nine of the past eleven quarters.

    Nestlé

    In mid-October, Nestlé said it would be cutting 16,000 jobs globally — as part of wider cost cutting aimed at reviving its financial performance.

    The Swiss food giant said the layoffs would take place over the next two years. The cuts arrive as Nestlé and others face headwinds like rising commodity costs and U.S. imposed tariffs. The company announced price hikes over the summer to offset higher coffee and cocoa costs.

    Lufthansa Group

    In September, Lufthansa Group said it would shed 4,000 jobs by 2030 — pointing to the adoption of artificial intelligence, digitalization and consolidating work among member airlines.

    Most of the lost jobs would be in Germany, and the focus would be on administrative rather than operational roles, the company said. The layoff plans arrived even as the company reported strong demand for air travel and predicted stronger profits in years ahead.

    Novo Nordisk

    Also in September, Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk said it would cut 9,000 jobs, about 11% of its workforce.

    Novo Nordisk — which makes drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy — said the layoffs were part of wider restructuring as the company works to sell more obesity and diabetes medications amid rising competition.

    ConocoPhillips

    Oil giant ConocoPhillips has said it plans to lay off up to a quarter of its workforce, as part of broader efforts from the company to cut costs.

    A spokesperson for ConocoPhillips confirmed the layoffs on Sept. 3, noting that 20% to 25% of the company’s employees and contractors would be impacted worldwide. At the time, ConocoPhillips had a total headcount of about 13,000 — or between 2,600 and 3,250 workers. Most reductions were expected to take place before the end of 2025.

    Intel

    Intel has moved to shed thousands of jobs — with the struggling chipmaker working to revive its business as it lags behind rivals like Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices.

    In a July memo to employees, CEO Lip-Bu Tan said Intel expected to end the year with 75,000 “core” workers, excluding subsidiaries, through layoffs and attrition. That’s down from 99,500 core employees reported the end of last year. The company previously announced a 15% workforce reduction.

    Microsoft

    In May, Microsoft began began laying off about 6,000 workers across its workforce. And just months later, the tech giant said it would be cutting 9,000 positions — marking its biggest round of layoffs seen in more than two years.

    The latest job cuts hit Microsoft’s Xbox video game business and other divisions. The company has cited “organizational changes,” with many executives characterizing the layoffs as part of a push to trim management layers. But the labor reductions also arrive as the company spends heavily on AI.

    Procter & Gamble

    In June, Procter & Gamble said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs over the next two years, 6% of the company’s global workforce.

    The maker of Tide detergent and Pampers diapers said the cuts were part of a wider restructuring — also arriving amid tariff pressures. In July, P&G said it would hike prices on about a quarter of its products due to the newly-imposed import taxes, although it’s since said it expects to take less of a hit than previously anticipated for the 2026 fiscal year.

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  • The Trump administration’s big Intel investment comes from already awarded grants | TechCrunch

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    Intel officially announced an agreement with President Donald Trump’s administration on Friday afternoon, following Trump’s statement that the government would be taking a 10% stake in the struggling chipmaker.

    While Intel says the government is making an “$8.9 billion investment in Intel common stock,” the administration does not appear to be committing new funds. Instead, it’s simply making good on what Intel described as “grants previously awarded, but not yet paid, to Intel.”

    Specifically, the $8.9 billion is supposed to come from $5.7 billion awarded-but-not-paid to Intel under the Biden administration’s CHIPS Act, as well as $3.2 billion also awarded by the Biden administration through the Secure Enclave program.

    In a post on his social network Truth Social, Trump wrote, “The United States paid nothing for these shares.” Nonetheless, he described this as “a great Deal for America and, also, a great Deal for INTEL.”

    Trump has been critical of the CHIPS Act, calling it a “horrible, horrible thing” and calling on House Speaker Mike Johnson to “get rid” of it. In a regulatory filing in June, Intel said that while it had already received $2.2 billion in CHIPS Act funding, it had subsequently requested an additional $850 million in reimbursement that the government had not yet paid.

    According to The New York Times, some bankers and lawyers believe the CHIPS Act may not allow the government to convert its grants to equity, opening this deal to potential legal challenges.

    In addition to his targeting of the CHIPS Act, earlier this month Trump also accused Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan of conflicts of interests and said he should “resign immediately.” The president was more positive about Tan on Friday, saying on Truth Social that he “negotiated this deal with Lip-Bu Tan, the Highly Respected Chief Executive Officer of the Company.”

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    For his part, Tan said in a statement that the company is “grateful for the confidence the President and the Administration have placed in Intel, and we look forward to working to advance U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership.”

    Intel’s announcement also says the government’s investment will be “passive,” with no board seats or other governance and information rights.

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    Anthony Ha

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  • U.S. Government Now ‘Controls’ 10% of Intel, Trump Says

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    President Donald Trump announced Friday that the U.S. government would be taking a 10% stake in Intel, the struggling U.S.-based chip manufacturer. But the president’s choice of words will definitely raise more than a few eyebrows, especially since the Trump regime has previously said the federal government will have no corporate governance role at the tech company.

    “It is my Great Honor to report that the United States of America now fully owns and controls 10% of INTEL, a Great American Company that has an even more incredible future,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

    The government taking a 10% ownership stake in Intel shouldn’t be surprising, as rumors about the deal leaked last week. But what might surprise people is Trump’s use of the word “control.” Nobody seems to know what that means yet.

    “I negotiated this Deal with Lip-Bu Tan, the Highly Respected Chief Executive Officer of the Company. The United States paid nothing for these Shares, and the Shares are now valued at approximately $11 Billion Dollars,” Trump continued.

    “This is a great Deal for America and, also, a great Deal for INTEL. Building leading edge Semiconductors and Chips, which is what INTEL does, is fundamental to the future of our Nation,” according to Trump. The president ended his post with the now-customary, “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!” and “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”

    Lutnick’s denials on Tuesday

    Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick was asked about the plans for a government stake in Intel during an interview with CNBC on Tuesday. Lutnick was specifically quizzed whether the government would get a governance role at Intel, something the Commerce Secretary insisted would not happen.

    “Do you get governance here?” CNBC host David Faber asked.

    “No, no, no, no, no…” Lutnick said over and over to the question, suggesting the entire idea was absurd. “Come on, stop that stuff. It’s not governance, right, we’re just what was a grant under Biden into equity for the Trump administration, for the American people.”

    Faber pointed out that any other entity owning 10% would expect to have a say in how that company was run. “Why wouldn’t you want some…” Faber started to say before Lutnick drowned him out by repeatedly saying “non-voting, non-voting.”

    Faber noted that the U.S. government got a so-called “golden share” when Japan-based Nippon Steel tried to buy U.S. Steel, meaning that Trump can potentially veto corporate decisions he doesn’t like. It’s unclear at this point what kind of influence Trump can have at Intel with this new 10% stake, which likely involves converting $10.86 billion in grants for Intel from the Biden-era CHIPS ACT into equity, according to reporting Tuesday the New York Times.

    Who actually negotiated the deal?

    Lutnick was the first to break the news on social media in a tweet shortly before Trump, though the Commerce Secretary’s announcement obviously carries less weight in an increasingly authoritarian country like the U.S. It’s not real until Dear Leader says it’s real.

    “BIG NEWS: The United States of America now owns 10% of Intel, one of our great American technology companies. This historic agreement strengthens U.S. leadership in semiconductors, which will both grow our economy and help secure America’s technological edge,” Lutnick wrote.

    Lutnick’s tweet was sent at 4:10 p.m. ET and included a photo of him with Intel CEO Lip Bu-Tan. That presumably irked Trump, who sent his own post on Truth Social almost an hour later, at 5:04 p.m. ET, and included the claim “I negotiated this Deal with Lip-Bu Tan” in the second sentence.

    Trump reportedly met with Tan last week after the president called for the Intel CEO’s resignation over alleged links to China. Trump insisted there was “no other solution to this problem” but changed his tune after the meeting.

    What do the Dems say?

    Folks on the left have been divided on whether Trump’s plan for Intel is a good one for America. Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who caucuses with the Democrats, said earlier this week that he supports the plan for the U.S. government to take an equity stake.

    “If microchip companies make a profit from the generous grants they receive from the federal government, the taxpayers of America have a right to a reasonable return on that investment,” Sanders told Reuters.

    But Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, wouldn’t commit so emphatically one way or another. In an email to Gizmodo, Warner said taking an equity stake “may or may not be the right approach,” while emphasizing that cutting-edge chips should not “flow to China without restraint” if that undercuts investments made in the U.S.

    “We need a strategy that protects American innovation, strengthens our workforce, and keeps the technologies of the future firmly in American hands,” Warner said. “Additionally, given the administration’s recent approach to other high-profile technology transactions, Congress must apply thorough scrutiny for potential conflicts of interest or undue interference in private-sector decisions unrelated to national security.”

    Intel is a drop in the ocean

    Warner is absolutely right that Congress needs to look into any conflicts of interest or “undue interference” on private companies. But given the current trajectory of the U.S.—where we’ve got armed troops on the streets of D.C. and harassment campaigns against the president’s opponents—it seems unlikely that Congress will be deploying any checks or balances soon.

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    Matt Novak

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  • Trump thinks owning a piece of Intel would be a good deal for the US. Here’s what to know

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    SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Donald Trump wants the U.S. government to own a piece of Intel, less than two weeks after demanding the Silicon Valley pioneer dump the CEO that was hired to turn around the slumping chipmaker. If the goal is realized, the investment would deepen the Trump administration’s involvement in the computer industry as the president ramps up the pressure for more U.S. companies to manufacture products domestically instead of relying on overseas suppliers.

    What’s happening?

    The Trump administration is in talks to secure a 10% stake in Intel in exchange for converting government grants that were pledged to Intel under President Joe Biden. If the deal is completed, the U.S. government would become one of Intel’s largest shareholders and blur the traditional lines separating the public sector and private sector in a country that remains the world’s largest economy.

    Why would Trump do this?

    In his second term, Trump has been leveraging his power to reprogram the operations of major computer chip companies. The administration is requiring Nvidia and Advanced Micro Devices, two companies whose chips are helping to power the craze around artificial intelligence, to pay a 15% commission on their sales of chips in China in exchange for export licenses.

    Trump’s interest in Intel is also being driven by his desire to boost chip production in the U.S., which has been a focal point of the trade war that he has been waging throughout the world. By lessening the country’s dependence on chips manufactured overseas, the president believes the U.S. will be better positioned to maintain its technological lead on China in the race to create artificial intelligence.

    Didn’t Trump want Intel’s CEO to quit?

    That’s what the president said August 7 in an unequivocal post calling for Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign less than five months after the Santa Clara, California, company hired him. The demand was triggered by reports raising national security concerns about Tan’s past investments in Chinese tech companies while he was a venture capitalist. But Trump backed off after Tan professed his allegiance to the U.S. in a public letter to Intel employees and went to the White House to meet with the president, who applauded the Intel CEO for having an “amazing story.”

    Why would Intel do a deal?

    The company isn’t commenting about the possibility of the U.S. government becoming a major shareholder, but Intel may have little choice because it is currently dealing from a position of weakness. After enjoying decades of growth while its processors powered the personal computer boom, the company fell into a slump after missing the shift to the mobile computing era unleashed by the iPhone’s 2007 debut.

    Intel has fallen even farther behind in recent years during an artificial intelligence craze that has been a boon for Nvidia and AMD. The company lost nearly $19 billion last year and another $3.7 billion in the first six months of this year, prompting Tan to undertake a cost-cutting spree. By the end of this year, Tan expects Intel to have about 75,000 workers, a 25% reduction from the end of last year.

    Would this deal be unusual?

    Although rare, it’s not unprecedented for the U.S. government to become a significant shareholder in a prominent company. One of the most notable instances occurred during the Great Recession in 2008 when the government injected nearly $50 billion into General Motors in return for a roughly 60% stake in the automaker at a time it was on the verge of bankruptcy. The government ended up with a roughly $10 billion loss after it sold its stock in GM.

    Would the government run Intel?

    U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC during a Tuesday interview that the government has no intention of meddling in Intel’s business, and will have its hands tied by holding non-voting shares in the company. But some analysts wonder if the Trump administration’s financial ties to Intel might prod more companies looking to curry favor with the president to increase their orders for the company’s chips.

    What government grants does Intel receive?

    Intel was among the biggest beneficiaries of the Biden administration’s CHIPS and Science Act, but it hasn’t been able to revive its fortunes while falling behind on construction projects spawned by the program.

    The company has received about $2.2 billion of the $7.8 billion pledged under the incentives program — money that Lutnick derided as a “giveaway” that would better serve U.S. taxpayers if it’s turned into Intel stock. “We think America should get the benefit of the bargain,” Lutnick told CNBC. “It’s obvious that it’s the right move to make.”

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  • After Tension With Washington, Intel Is Suddenly a Hot Asset

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    Earlier this month, President Donald Trump publicly called on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign. Photo by Andrej Sokolow/picture alliance via Getty Images

    In its latest push into A.I. and semiconductors, SoftBank yesterday (Aug. 18) announced a $2 billion investment in Intel. The Masayoshi Son-led conglomerate purchased shares at a slight discount—$23 each—giving it about a 2 percent stake in the struggling U.S. chipmaker.

    “For more than 50 years, Intel has been a trusted leader in innovation,” said Son in a statement. “This strategic investment reflects our belief that advanced semiconductor manufacturing and supply will further expand in the U.S., with Intel playing a critical role.”

    SoftBank, long known for its bold bets, has been particularly aggressive in A.I. It has backed A.I. startups like Perplexity AI and OpenAI, leading a $40 billion funding round for the latter that valued the ChatGPT maker at $300 billion earlier this year. In January, SoftBank also joined OpenAI, Oracle, and others in launching Stargate, a $500 billion initiative aimed at boosting domestic A.I. development over the next four years.

    On the semiconductor front, SoftBank is the majority owner of chip designer Arm and last year acquired Graphcore to position it as a Nvidia rival.The company previously held around 5 percent of Nvidia but sold its stake in 2019, just before the A.I. boom sent the chipmaker’s value soaring. SoftBank has since rebuilt its Nvidia holdings to around $3 billion.

    While surging demand for A.I. chips has made Nvidia the world’s most valuable publicly listed company, Intel has struggled to capitalize on the boom. Once a leader in semiconductor manufacturing, the Santa Clara, Calif-based company has fallen behind rivals in areas like GPUs. After SoftBank revealed its investment, its own shares dropped more than 7 percent today, while Intel shares jumped 7 percent on the news.

    The U.S. eyes a stake in Intel

    Another force bolstering Intel’s share price today is reports that the U.S. government is considering a 10 percent stake in the company. The government is considering converting funds that Intel was supposed to get under the Biden-era Chips and Science Act into an equity stake, U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNBC today.

    The move would add a new twist to the tumultuous relationship between Washington and the semiconductor industry. Earlier this month, President Donald Trump publicly called on Intel CEO Lip-Bu Tan to resign, citing alleged conflicts of interest—a demand he walked back after meeting Tan at the White House last week. In August, the administration also announced that Nvidia and AMD could resume exporting chips to China, but only if they pay the U.S. 15 percent of revenue from those sales.

    Tan, who took over as Intel’s chief executive in March, is focused on catching up with competitors by emphasizing engineering, cutting costs and laying off about 25,000 employees throughout 2025. A veteran of the semiconductor industry, Tan has close ties to Son, having previously served on SoftBank’s board until 2022.

    “We are pleased to deepen our relationship with SoftBank, a company that’s at the forefront of so many areas of emerging technology and innovation and shares our commitment to advancing U.S. technology and manufacturing leadership,” said Tan in a statement. “Masa and I have worked closely together for decades, and I appreciate the confidence he has placed in Intel with this investment.”

    After Tension With Washington, Intel Is Suddenly a Hot Asset

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    Alexandra Tremayne-Pengelly

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  • US stocks rally to records on hopes for cuts to interest rates

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    NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. stock market rallied to records on Tuesday after data suggested inflation across the country was a touch better last month than economists expected.

    The S&P 500 rose 1.1% to top its all-time high set two weeks ago. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 483 points, or 1.1%, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 1.4% to set its own record.

    Stocks got a lift from hopes that the better-than-expected inflation report will give the Federal Reserve leeway to cut interest rates at its next meeting in September.

    Lower rates would give a boost to investment prices and to the economy by making it cheaper for U.S. households and businesses to borrow to buy houses, cars or equipment. President Donald Trump has angrily been calling for cuts to help the economy, often insulting the Fed’s chair personally while doing so.

    AP AUDIO: Wall Street rises toward records on hopes for lower interest rates

    AP business correspondent Seth Sutel reports markets are leaning higher.

    But the Fed has been hesitant because of the possibility that Trump’s tariffs could make inflation much worse. Lowering rates would give inflation more fuel, potentially adding oxygen to a growing fire. That’s why Fed officials have said they wanted to see more data come in about inflation before moving.

    Tuesday’s report said U.S. consumers paid prices for groceries, gasoline and other costs of living that were overall 2.7% higher in July than a year earlier. That’s the same inflation rate as June’s, and it was below the 2.8% that economists expected.

    The report pushed traders on Wall Street to increase bets that the Fed will cut interest rates for the first time this year in September. They’re betting on a 94% chance of that, up from nearly 86% a day earlier, according to data from CME Group.

    The Fed will receive one more report on inflation, as well as one more on the U.S. job market, before its next meeting, which ends Sept. 17. The most recent jobs report was a stunner, coming in much weaker than economists expected.

    Some economists warn that more twists and turns in upcoming data could make the Fed’s upcoming decisions not so easy. Its twin goals are to get inflation to 2% while keeping the job market healthy. Helping one with interest rates, though, often means hurting the other.

    Even Tuesday’s better-than-expected inflation report had some discouraging undertones. An underlying measure of inflation, which economists say does a better job of predicting where inflation may be heading, hit its highest point since early this year, noted Gary Schlossberg, market strategist at Wells Fargo Investment Institute. That helped cause some up-and-down swings for Treasury yields in the bond market.

    “Eventually, tariffs can show up in varying degrees in consumer prices, but these one-off price increases don’t happen all at once,” said Brian Jacobsen, chief economist at Annex Wealth Management. “That will confound the Fed and economic commentators for months to come.”

    Other central banks around the world have been lowering interest rates, and Australia’s on Tuesday cut for the third time this year.

    On Wall Street, Intel’s stock rose 5.6% after Trump said its CEO has an “amazing story,” less than a week after he had demanded Lip-Bu Tan’s resignation.

    Circle Internet Group, the company behind the popular USDC cryptocurrency that tracks the U.S. dollar, climbed 1.3% despite reporting a larger loss for the latest quarter than analysts expected. It said its total revenue and reserve income grew 53% in its first quarter as a publicly traded company, which topped forecasts.

    On the losing side of Wall Street was Celanese, which sank 13.1% even though the chemical company delivered a better profit than expected. It said that customers in most of its markets continue to be challenged, and CEO Scott Richardson said that “the demand environment does not seem to be improving.”

    Cardinal Health dropped 7.2% despite likewise reporting a stronger profit for the latest quarter than analysts expected. Its revenue fell short of forecasts, and analysts said the market’s expectations were particularly high for the company after its stock had already soared 33.3% for the year coming into the day.

    Critics say the broad U.S. stock market is looking expensive after its surge from a bottom in April. That’s putting pressure on companies to deliver continued growth in profit.

    All told, the S&P 500 rose 72.31 points to 6,445.76. The Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed 483.52 to 44,458.61, and the Nasdaq composite jumped 296.50 to 21,681.90.

    In stock markets abroad, indexes edged up in China after Trump signed an executive order late Monday that delayed hefty tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy by 90 days. The move was widely expected, and the hope is that it will clear the way for a possible deal to avert a dangerous trade war between the United States and China.

    Japan’s Nikkei 225 jumped 2.1%, and South Korea’s Kospi fell 0.5% for two of the world’s bigger moves.

    In the bond market, the yield on the 10-year Treasury rose to 4.28% from 4.27% late Monday.

    The yield on the two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, fell to 3.73% from 3.76%.

    ___

    AP Business Writers Yuri Kageyama and Matt Ott contributed.

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  • Trump says Intel CEO has an ‘amazing story’ days after calling for his resignation

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    Less than a week after demanding his resignation, President Donald Trump is now calling the career of Intel’s CEO an “amazing story.”

    Shares of Intel, which slid last week after CEO Lip-Bu Tan came under fire from the U.S. president, bounced higher before the opening bell Tuesday.

    The attack from Trump came after Sen. Tom Cotton sent a letter to Intel Chairman Frank Yeary expressing concern over Tan’s investments and ties to semiconductor firms that are reportedly linked to the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Liberation Army. Cotton asked Intel if Tan had divested from the companies to eliminate any potential conflict of interest.

    Trump said on the Truth Social platform Thursday that, “The CEO of Intel is highly CONFLICTED and must resign, immediately. There is no other solution to this problem. Thank you for your attention to this problem!”

    Tan was named Intel CEO in March and it is unclear if he has divested his interests in the chip companies.

    Tan said in a message to employees that there was misinformation circulating about his past roles at Walden International and Cadence Design Systems and said that he’d “always operated within the highest legal and ethical standards.”

    After a Monday meeting with Tan at the White House, Trump backed off his demand that Tan resign without hesitation.

    “I met with Mr. Lip-Bu Tan, of Intel, along with Secretary of Commerce, Howard Lutnick, and Secretary of the Treasury, Scott Bessent,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post. “The meeting was a very interesting one. His success and rise is an amazing story. Mr. Tan and my Cabinet members are going to spend time together, and bring suggestions to me during the next week. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”

    Shares of Intel gained 3.5% Tuesday

    The economic and political rivalry between the U.S. and China are increasingly focused on computer chips, AI and other digital technologies that are expected to shape future economies and military conflicts.

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