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Cooling Inflation Calms Hawkish Fed Fears (For Now) The personal consumption expenditures price index, the Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, rose rose 0.1% last month, well below expectations for 0.6% and below the 0.4% from a month earlier. In the 12 months through May, PCE rose 3.8%, missing economists forecasts of 4.6%. The slower pace of inflation may not be enough to stop the Fed hiking in July, Pantheon Macroeconomics says, if next month’s inflation data and monthly jobs report come in hot. “Our base case, though, is that these data will be on the softer side, so we think the chance of a further hike is about 40%,” it added. “And if they don’t hike in July, they’re probably done.” As well cooling inflation, data showing weaker-than-expected consumer spending also eased worries that the Fed is likely to lean hawkish. Apple Value Closes Above Record $3 Trillion as Tech Racks Up Gains The broader market melt-up was led by an Apple-infused charge in tech afte...

(Reuters) - The Federal Reserve is seen slightly less locked in to a July interest rate hike, traders bet on Friday, after a government report showed price pressures eased slightly in May but remained far above the Fed's goal. Inflation by the Fed's preferred personal consumption expenditures index rose last month at a year-on-year pace of 3.8%, data Friday showed, easing from April's 4.4% pace. Underlying core inflation rose 4.6%, a touch less than the 4.7% economists expected. Futures tied to the Fed's policy rate, which had before the data priced in a nearly 90% chance of a July Fed rate increase, now reflect about an 85% probability.

MADRID (Reuters) - American buyout fund Apollo on Friday filed a tender offer for 100% of the shares of Spanish industrial testing company Applus Services in a transaction that values the company at 1.23 billion euros ($1.33 billion). The fund offered to pay 9.50 euros in cash per Applus share, it said in a filing to the stock market regulator. The regulator had suspended trading in Applus shares early on Friday, and authorised it to resume at 1 p.m. (1100 GMT). Apollo's bid offers a 1.9% premium over Thursday's closing price of 9.32 euros. The shares have gained 45% so far this year on speculation several investors were preparing a takeover. Reuters reported last month that several funds including Apollo, Apax, I Squared Capital Advisors and TDR were looking at Applus. Last week, infrastructure private equity fund I Squared Capital Advisors said it was evaluating a takeover bid for Applus together with TDR Capital. ($1 = 0.9223 euros)

1. Key inflation data in focus Both Jerome Powell and Christine Lagarde–the heads of the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, respectively–were insistent at the ECB's annual gathering at Sintra that conquering inflation was key, and their job was not done yet. Evidence of how much further they still have to go is likely to emerge Friday, with important inflation numbers emerging on both sides of the Atlantic. The most important release will be the U.S. core personal consumption expenditures index the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, which is expected to rise 4.7% for the year and 0.3% for May. This would be the same as April’s annual figure, proving inflation remains sticky and largely cementing expectations for another quarter of a percentage point interest rate hike, probably at the July meeting. In Europe, Lagarde has already largely confirmed that the ECB will hike once more in July, and the release of the consumer price data for the whole eurozone will pro...