Crude oil prices made another 2% gain on Wednesday....
Crude oil prices made another 2% gain on Wednesday. The one-week high of crude oil prices came as the dollar fell to a six-week low when the U.S. Federal Reserve implemented an expected small rate hike.
West Texas Intermediate crude rose 1.8% on a $1.23 a barrel gain before closing at $70.90. Global benchmark Brent crude also rose 1.8% with a $1.37 a barrel increase to $76.69. That was the highest close for both crude benchmarks since March 14 reported Reuters.
April natural gas fell 18 cents to $2.17 per 1,000 cubic feet
Dow ends down over 500 points as U.S. stocks sell off in final minutes of day
Stocks were whipsawed between gains and losses before turning decidedly lower near the end of Fed...
Stocks were whipsawed between gains and losses before turning decidedly lower near the end of Fed Chair Jerome Powell's news conference, perhaps also taking a cue from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen's remarks signaling no move to expand insurance on bank deposits.
But things got really ugly after Powell left the podium, with stocks accelerating their decline into the closing bell. The Dow Jones Industrial Averageended the day down around 530 points, or 1.6%, while the S&P 500slid 1.7% and the Nasdaq Compositeslumped 1.6%.
Bonds rallied, with the yield on the 2-year Treasury note dropping 19.8 basis points to 3.977%. Yields and debt prices move opposite each other. During the prior session, it had jumped by the most in one day since June 5, 2009.
The yield on the 10-year Treasury note fell 10.6 basis points to 3.497%.
The Fed raises interest rates another quarter point in ongoing inflation battle
The Federal Reserve moved ahead with another interest rate hike...
The Federal Reserve moved ahead with another interest rate hike Wednesday, saying that inflation is expected to be hotter than they had previously thought.
The Fed lifted its benchmark fed funds rate by a quarter of one percentage point to a range of 4.75%-5%. Only a year ago, that rate was close to zero.
In a statement, the Fed said the banking system was sound and resilient. Officials said that the recent stress in the sector would likely lead to tighter credit conditions and reduce economic growth, but “the extent of these effects is uncertain.”
In a statement, the Fed said “some additional policy firming may be appropriate”to bring inflation back to the 2% target. This language replaces the previous statements that “ongoing increases” in the Fed’s benchmark rate would be needed.
U.S. stocks edge lower at opening bell ahead of Fed interest-rate decision
U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday in choppy trading as traders eyed the difficult choice facing the...
U.S. stocks opened lower Wednesday in choppy trading as traders eyed the difficult choice facing the Federal Reserve of whether to prioritize fighting inflation or banking sector stability.
How are stock indexes trading
The S&P 500 SPX, -0.10% dipped 4.3 points, or 0.1% to around 3,998
The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.09% went down 20 points, or 0.1% to 32,539
The Nasdaq Composite COMP, -0.08% lost 15.7 points, or 0.1% to 11,841
US-Europe oil trade benefits from wide Brent-WTI spread
A wide spread between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil prices and reduced demand from US refineries...
A wide spread between West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude oil prices and reduced demand from US refineries have helped lift US crude oil exports to Europe to a record 2.1 million barrels per day so far this month, according to ship tracking data. Kpler analyst Matt Smith expects the trend to continue in the coming months if WTI's discount to Brent remains high.
