TheStreet's J.D. Durkin brings the latest business headlines from the floor of the New York Stock Exchange as markets open for trading Friday, October 20.
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Full Video Transcript Below:
I’m J.D. Durkin - reporting from the New York Stock Exchange. Here’s what we’re watching on TheStreet today.
Markets are looking to rebound after the Dow, Nasdaq, and S&P 500 all finished in the red on Thursday. The dips came on the heels of federal reserve chair Jerome Powell’s speech at the Economic Club of New York. Powell said inflation was still too high, but the central bank would would be “resolute” in hitting its goal of 2 percent.
Powell added, “a range of uncertainties, both old and new, complicate our task of balancing the risk of tightening monetary policy too much against the risk of tightening too little.”
Meanwhile, China has released plans to restrict exports of graphite. Graphite is critically important to the manufacturing of batteries for electric vehicles. The move comes just days after the United States announced it would be imposing additional restrictions on the kinds of semiconductors that U.S. companies can sell to Chinese organizations.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, demand for graphite used in EV batteries has skyrocketed by 250 percent since 2018 - and China is the global leader for graphite production, accounting for 65% of the world's total in 2022.
Sales of electric vehicles are booming, according to the international energy agency. EV sales have increased substantially over the past few years. 10 million electric vehicles were sold around the globe in 2022, a 55 percent increase from 2021. The agency estimates around 14 million will be sold in 2023.
That’ll do it for your daily briefing. From the New York Stock Exchange, I’m j.D. Durkin with TheStreet.
