Business this week

Business this week

In testimony to Congress, Jerome Powell, the chairman of the Federal Reserve, admitted that prices are increasing at a faster pace than central bankers have forecast, but reiterated his view that pressures will eventually ease, avoiding any return to 1970s levels of inflation. Fed officials now think consumer prices in America will be 3.4% higher in the fourth quarter than a year before, up from 2.4% in an earlier projection (in May a different measure of inflation hit 5%). Mr Powell pointed out that price rises are sharpest in sectors linked to the reopening of the economy, and will recede.

Microsoft's market capitalisation reached $2trn, making it only the second American company, after Apple, to do so. It hit a valuation of $1trn in April 2019. Microsoft's share price is up by 20% since the start of the year, outperforming Amazon and Apple, but not Alphabet, which has seen its stock rise by around 40%.