Elsewhere, Facebook busts tiny set of propagandists on its social network.
Citing favourable levels of job growth, household spending, investment and inflation, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady.
The decision left the US central bank’s benchmark overnight lending rate in a range of 1.75% to 2.00%. The Fed's statement indicates interest rates will be raised in September or December when further trade action from the White House has the potential to undermine economic growth.
It says economic growth has been rising strongly in the US while the job market continues to strengthen, and inflation has remained near the 2% target since its last policy meeting in June when it raised rates. The US economy grew at 4.1% in the second quarter, its best showing in four years.
US labour costs, viewed as one of the better gauges of how much slack is left in the market, also posted their largest annual gain since 2008 in the second quarter, the Labour Department says.
Federal funds futures show traders are pricing in about a 91% chance of a Fed rate rise in September and a 71% chance of an additional hike in December, according to CME Group’s FedWatch programme.
The market appears to have expected the Fed’s decision. The dollar index, which measures the greenback against a basket of six currencies, was up 0.14% at 94.629.
The yen edged higher against the greenback. The euro slipped 0.25% to $US1.1662, under pressure from the stronger dollar and a Purchasing Managers’ Index survey that showed factory output was growing but lifted only slightly from June’s 18-month low.
Sterling was little changed on the day ahead of a Bank of England policy decision on Thursday that is widely expected to raise interest rates for the second time since the global financial crisis.
Technology stocks pulled the Nasdaq into positive territory balancing out a dip in the S&P and the Dow Jones as trade-sensitive stocks worried on news that the Trump administration is considering higher tariffs on $US200 billion worth of Chinese imports, hiking the rate to 25% from 10%. China called the move “blackmail” while saying it would respond in kind.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 81.37 points, or 0.32%, to 25,333.82, the S&P 500 lost 2.93 points, or 0.10%, to 2813.36 and the Nasdaq Composite added 35.50 points, or 0.46%, to 7707.29.
With second-quarter reporting season nearly two-thirds complete, analyst estimates for S&P 500 profit growth are now at 23.3%, up from 20.7% a month ago. The S&P 500 posted 14 new 52-week highs and three new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 54 new highs and 82 new lows.
Apple Inc shares hit an all-time high after posting after-market results on Tuesday, beating estimates and forecasting better-than-expected sales on strong smartphone demand. The company is closing in on $US1 trillion in market value.
Google bends to China
Search engine giant Google is planning to launch a version of its search engine in China that would censor certain websites and search terms.
China has long blocked services from US tech companies such as Google's search engine and YouTube, though Google announced in December it planned to open an artificial intelligence research centre in China.
According to leaked documents obtained by The Intercept, the company’s programme is called “Dragonfly” and would blacklist search terms and websites that promote human rights, religion, freedom, democracy and other topics but also websites such as Wikipedia and BBC News.
Google started working on a censored search engine in spring of 2017 but expanded those efforts in December after the company’s chief executive Sundar Pichai met officials from the Chinese government, according to the documents.
China presently blocks Google Search and social media websites, such as Facebook and Twitter, as well as video-sharing sites like Google-owned YouTube. Beijing argues those services represent a public harm.
In a statement, Amnesty International says that if The Intercept report is accurate, Google’s move would represent a “dark day for Internet freedom.”
Facebook’s boot stomps
Facebook says it discovered a new group of accounts engaging in coordinated political agitation and misinformation efforts ahead of upcoming midterm elections this November.
The social media company stated it has removed 32 pages and accounts from its main service and an Instagram photo-sharing app created between March 2017 and May of this year. Much like the Russians indicted by special counsel Robert Mueller for trying to influence the 2016 race, the accounts flagged took part of a coordinated effort to stoke ethnic and gender divisions, the company says.
“It’s clear whoever set up these accounts went to much greater lengths to obscure their identities than the Internet Research Agency did in the run-up to the 2016 presidential election,” Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg told reporters.
The pages included appeals to women "resisters," indigenous populations waging "war against colonialism" and anti-Nazi protesters. However, Facebook says it's "not attributing this activity to any specific group or to any country behind that group."
The suspect accounts had also run about 150 ads on Facebook and Instagram, costing a total of $US11,000, and Facebook says 290,000 accounts followed at least one of the pages involved.
Beyond online appeals, the pages drew users to planned events, 30 of which had been created since May 2017. While Facebook indicated that two of the events were pre-empted by the announcement, 28 appear to have already taken place. According to the company, most drew interest from only 100 or so users but some ranged north of that, with the most popular boasting 4700.
"I am glad to see that Facebook is taking a much-needed step toward limiting the use of its platform by foreign influence campaigns," Senate intelligence committee chairman Richard Burr says.
Facebook could not definitively link the campaign to Russia but company officials have said that some of the tools and techniques used by the accounts were like those used by the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency at the centre of an indictment alleging interference in the 2016 US presidential election.
“Part of this a good news story because this is showing that Facebook is taking this very seriously, so they should be commended for what they did today,” Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen says.
“The American people demand and deserve the strongest possible defence and we will give it to them,” US vice president Mike Pence promised, arguing that Mr Trump “inherited” the present “cyber crisis” from former president Barack Obama.
Manafort on trial
“This case is about taxes and trust ... and Mr Manafort placing his trust in the wrong person – [his associate] Rick Gates,” says Thomas Zehnle – attorney for former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort – in his opening statement at Mr Manafort’s trial yesterday.
Mr Manafort was charged last year by special counsel Robert Mueller, and Gates, Mr Manafort’s longstanding deputy, pleaded guilty earlier this year to conspiracy and is co-operating with the Mueller probe.
Mr Manafort is charged with bank and tax fraud charges. Prosecutors allege he failed to pay taxes on millions he made from his work for a Russia-friendly Ukrainian political party and then lied to obtain loans when the cash stopped arriving.
The trial is the first to come from charges brought by Mr Mueller in his investigation of Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election. The charges against Mr Manafort involve neither US President Donald Trump nor allegations of his collusion with Russia.
Mr Manafort “lied” and placed himself “above the law” prosecutors alleged in their opening, telling the jury how he tried to hide tens of millions of dollars of income in 30 foreign bank accounts across three different countries. Prosecutors say the money was used to fund a lifestyle of properties, cars, clothing and other items, including a $21,000 watch and a $15,000 jacket made from an ostrich.
Mr Zehnle described Mr Manafort as a “talented political consultant and a good man” who had openly co-operated with the FBI when questioned about his Ukraine activities in 2014.
