Slowing things down: As labor market risks have somewhat decreased, Federal Reserve officials are maintaining broad support for a careful approach to future rate cuts, minutes from their latest policy meeting showed. Previously, officials were expected to make four cuts this year. Read more from Bloomberg. A subscription may be required.
A step back: Walmart on Monday confirmed that it’s ending some of its diversity initiatives, removing some LGBTQ-related merchandise from its website and winding down a nonprofit launched in 2020 that funded programs for minorities. The nation’s largest employer, which has about 1.6 million U.S. workers, joined a growing list of companies that have stepped back from diversity, equity and inclusion efforts after feeling the heat from conservative activists. Read more from CNBC.
Reality check: U.S. oil and gas producers are unlikely to radically increase production under president-elect Donald Trump as companies remain focused on capital discipline, a senior executive at ExxonMobil said on Tuesday. “We’re not going to see anybody in ‘drill, baby, drill’ mode,” Liam Mallon, head of Exxon’s upstream division, told the Energy Intelligence Forum conference in London. “A radical change (in production) is unlikely because the vast majority, if not everybody, is focused on the economics of what they’re doing.” Read more from Reuters.
