5 things to watch from the Federal Reserve's next meeting

WASHINGTON (AP) — Federal Reserve policymakers are likely to keep their key interest rate unchanged Wednesday when they finish what may seem like an uneventful meeting. But investors and economists will be looking between the lines of the central bank’s statement Wednesday for clues about its next moves and where it thinks inflation is headed. The Fed’s Oct. 27-28 meeting will be the fourth of Chairman Kevin Warsh’s tenure, which has been marked by questions regarding his independence from President Donald Trump, who appointed him earlier this year. It also comes just six days before midterm elections that have been shaped by affordability concerns as gas prices have soared and grocery prices remain elevated.

Asian stocks rise after a rally on Wall Street, while oil prices edge higher

HONG KONG (AP) — Asian stocks are mostly higher as AI-related stocks boost benchmarks in Tokyo and Seoul ahead of quarterly earnings. U.S. futures edged lower and oil prices rose. Memory chipmakers SK Hynix and Samsung Electronics surged, recovering last week’s losses. New Zealand’s central bank surprised markets by keeping its benchmark interest rate on hold. On Tuesday, the majority of stocks within the S&P 500 fell, but gains for influential companies related to artificial-intelligence offset those losses. Treasury yields held relatively steady ahead of a decision on interest rates by the Federal Reserve. The S&P 500 rose 0.6% and the Nasdaq composite rose 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up less than 0.1%.

UK Treasury chief faces headwinds as he delivers first budget under new prime minister, Andy Burnham

LONDON (AP) — British Treasury chief John Healey faces a fine balancing act when he delivers his first budget statement, with the economic backdrop made more difficult as a result of the turmoil caused by the Iran war. Healey, who was appointed Chancellor of the Exchequer in July when Andy Burnham became prime minister, takes center stage when he stands up Wednesday in the House of Commons in what is arguably Parliament’s key set-piece of the calendar. In his few comments ahead of the budget, Healey has said he will aim to give businesses and families “some breathing space” from the upward march in the cost of living.

US consumer confidence recovers in October as gas prices eased a bit

WASHINGTON (AP) — American confidence in the economy rebounded somewhat in October as gas prices fell modestly but remain elevated. The Conference Board said Tuesday that its consumer confidence index jumped 7.5 points to 91.7 in October from 84.2 last month. September’s reading was the lowest in the board’s survey since April 2014 and below the lowest level reached during the pandemic. Respondents’ views of their present situation rose by 6.9 points to 72.6 while their short-term outlook climbed 8.6 points to 120.4. Even with the improved outlook, Americans remain flustered by the economy after five years of elevated inflation.

Global cyberscams bilk Americans out of billions. A fragmented US response means few get money back

A U.S. congressional investigation has found that the U.S. government’s response to surging cyberscams remains fragmented and leaves victims struggling to recover losses. The report from the Democratic leadership of the Joint Economic Committee released Tuesday found that federal agencies lack a unified accounting of money seized from overseas scam compounds or returned to victims. Americans reported nearly $18 billion in cyberfraud losses to the FBI last year. That far exceeds reported recoveries. The report urges a coordinated federal strategy, centralized victim support and stronger partnerships with private industry. It also raises concern about the impact of cuts to overseas aid on the global fight against scams.

Risks spelled out for Anthropic investors include blowback from runaway AI

Any time a company looks to start selling shares on Wall Street, it’s required to disclose potential risks for investors. In the case of artificial intelligence giant Anthropic, that has included the possibility that its products could threaten nothing less than humanity itself. The risks laid out by the San Francisco company in its filing Monday with the Securities and Exchange Commission range from the mundane to involvement in cyberattacks and the spread of dangerous misinformation. In selling itself to investors, Anthropic presents its own initial public offering as a step toward mitigating the risks it believes AI poses.

The Anthropic IPO by the numbers, from a possible valuation in the trillions to surging revenue

Anthropic has the chance to make history with what could be the biggest initial public offering of stock ever. The artificial intelligence lab filed papers Monday setting up a Wall Street debut in November, likely ahead of its chief rival OpenAI and just months after SpaceX's record initial public offering. The Anthropic offering could bring in as much as $100 billion. In a 335-page prospectus, the company behind the Claude chatbot and models outlined rapid revenue growth, but an inability to turn a profit yet. Anthropic could be valued at as much as $2 trillion, although its final valuation and offering price have not been established.

Microsoft offers a quarter of its global workforce voluntary buyouts as AI spending accelerates

Microsoft has offered 60,000 employees, or about 27% of its global workforce, voluntary buyouts as the software giant spends heavily on artificial intelligence. Chief People Officer Amy Coleman said in a blog post Monday that the company’s voluntary exit offer was available to eligible employees in Canada, India, the United Kingdom and the United States. The company, which releases its quarterly financial performance Wednesday, had approximately 223,000 full-time employees at the end of June. Shares of Microsoft Corp., based in Redmond, Washington, hit an all-time high this month.

ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming reclaims top spot in China’s rich list, thanks to his firm's AI push

BEIJING (AP) — ByteDance founder Zhang Yiming has reclaimed the top spot on a list of China’s richest people, driven by his company’s push into artificial intelligence. That's according to the annual rankings by The Hurun Research Institute released Tuesday. Its list reflects that the country’s high-tech sectors were rising, but others like consumer and real estate were under pressure. Zhang topped the list with $100 billion, up 43%. Bottled water magnate Zhong Shanshan fell to second place with $61 billion. Ranked third was Robin Zeng, chairman of CATL, the world’s largest maker of batteries for electric vehicles.

German court rejects bid to end Ukrainian ex-officer's trial over Nord Stream pipeline blasts

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) — A German court has rejected a defense request to end the trial of a former Ukrainian army officer who is accused of damaging the Nord Stream gas pipelines built to carry Russian gas to Western Europe in blasts four years ago. The suspect went on trial in Hamburg on Oct. 14. He is alleged to have been the ringleader of the attack on the Nord Stream gas pipelines. It was considered to be one of Europe’s biggest acts of sabotage since World War II. His lawyers swiftly filed a motion to dismiss the charges. The court dismissed the motion on the trial’s second day of hearings on Tuesday.