– This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on May 3, Wednesday.
Welcome to CNBC Business Daily, I'm Qian Chen.
Again, auto industry in the United States posted disappointing sales results. The April auto sales numbers for all of the major automakers were negative last month.
As you can see on the WALL, GM fell 5.8%, Ford declined 7.2% and Fiat-Chryster fell by 6.6%.
Not surprisingly, almost all of the auto stocks were under pressure overnight. For example, shares of Ford fell by more than 4.3%.
Analysts forecast a fourth straight monthly decline for sales, signaling that the market may have peaked after seven straight years of record sales.
[MARGARET PATEL, Wells Fargo Asset Management Senior Portfolio Manager & Managing Director] "We had great auto sales increasing every year for the last half dozen years. And we are really topping out of autosales, you've seen some signs as far as bad loans in autos. you've also seen some incentives off, so not a disaster of auto sales decline a lot, but they clearly are topping out at this level, indicating they are pretty well match for consumer incomes right now."
However, despite of some recent weak data, including the U.S. first quarter's growth of merely 0.7% as well as declines in inflation data, analysts still believe the Federal Reserve would prepare markets for an interest rate increase in June in its statement following a policy meeting this week.
CNBC interviewed former U.S. Fed president Ben Bernanke, here's what he had to say about Fed's rate policy.
[Ben Bernanke, former U.S. Fed President] "WE'VE SEEN THAT THE INTEREST RATE ENVIRONMENT, NOT JUST THE FED'S ACTIONS OR ECB'S ACTIONS, BUT JUST THE FACT THAT THE INTEREST RATE OF, YOU KNOW, THAT'S NEEDED TO GET TO FULL EMPLOYMENT IS JUST MUCH LOWER. THAT'S JUST A LONG-TERM THING. IT COMES FROM GLOBAL SAVINGS. IT COMES FROM LOW RETURNS ON NEW CAPITAL INVESTMENTS. SO, THE FED'S VERY LOW INTEREST RATES ARE NOT AS STIMULATIVE AS IT WOULD HAVE BEEN, YOU KNOW, 10, 15 YEARS AGO BECAUSE WE'RE NOT THAT FAR FROM WHERE INTEREST RATES ARE NEUTRAL"
The Fed is expected to hold interest rates steady after its two-day meeting that began Tuesday, as it pauses to examine more economic data, but may hint it is on track for an increase in June. Traders do not anticipate a hike on Wednesday but are currently forecasting a 63.2 percent chance of a 25-basis-point hike at the Fed's June meeting, according to the Fed Funds Rate.
CNBC's Qian Chen, reporting from Singapore.