Central bankers convened Tuesday to kick off their ...
Central bankers convened Tuesday to kick off their two-day meeting that everyone expects to culminate in a quarter-point hike that would bring the Fed's benchmark rate to a range of 5.0%-5.25%. The last time the fed funds rate hit that level was during the housing boom in 2006, in the run-up to the 2008 crisis.
The thing to watch today is whether Powell gives any hints as to what comes next as far as policy and whether he makes any reference to rate cuts to come later this year.
The number of job openings in the US dropped to a nearly two-year low in March, and layoffs increased to their highest point since December 2020, the Labor Department revealed yesterday. In this “bad news is good news” economic environment, the Fed will be pleased that the boiling-hot labor market is cooling off. It means less pressure on inflation and more justification to pause hiking rates.
The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a 3.939 million barrel draw on crude...
The American Petroleum Institute (API) on Tuesday reported a 3.939 million barrel draw on crude inventories. The total number of barrels of crude oil gained so far this year is still more than 34 million barrels.
This week, SPR inventory dropped for the fifth week in a row, losing 2 million barrels for the week to reach 364.9 million barrels—the lowest amount of crude oil in the SPR since October 1983.
Distillate inventories fell by 1 million barrels after increasing by 1.693 million barrels in the week prior.
Inventories at Cushing, Oklahoma, increased by 700,000 barrels—after rising by 465,000 barrels last week.
Crude oil prices plunged nearly 5% to a five-week low in Tuesday’s...
Crude oil prices plunged nearly 5% to a five-week low in Tuesday’s trading as concerns about the economy brought prices down in the U.S. as politicians debated how to avoid a debt default.
West Texas Intermediate fell $4 a barrel or 5.3% and ended the day at $71.66 on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The global benchmark, Brent crude, dropped $3.99 or 5% and settled at $75.32 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
It was the lowest close for WTI and Brent since March 24 and also was their biggest one-day percentage drop since early January.
Natural gas closed up one cent for a 0.23% gain to $2.22.
Major U.S. stock indexes close down over 1% ahead of Fed decision
U.S. stocks ended well off session lows Tuesday, but still suffered...
U.S. stocks ended well off session lows Tuesday, but still suffered sharp losses.
A slump for regional banks, signaling that JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s agreement to purchase the remains of failed First Republic Bank didn't quell worries over the sector, was cited as the main driver of the slump. But investors were also weighing a warning from Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen that the U.S. could be in danger of default as early as June 1 if there's no deal to raise the debt limit.
That all combined with recession fears to send the Dow Jones Industrial Average down by around 615 points at its session low. The blue-chip gauge ended the day with a loss of just shy of 370 points, or 1.1%, according to preliminary figures. The S&P 500 declined 1.2%, while the Nasdaq Composite gave up 1.1%.
