Market Update

Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Loretta Mester says she supports front-loading interest-rate increases this year, likely including some half percentage-point hikes, to curb the hottest inflation in four decades.“I think we’re going to need to do some 50 basis-point moves,” Mester said on a call with reporters Wednesday. “I …

The Canadian dollar remains firm versus the American counterpart, with the USD/CAD down 0.37% in the week.Russia/Ukraine woes and US central bank hawkishness could not stop CAD bulls from extending USD/CAD losses. USD/CAD drop extends to seven straight days amid a risk-off market mood in the equity markets, which has …

The oil bulls remain in control with WTI up more than $5.0 on the day in the $114.00 area. WTI has now recovered more than 50% of its pullback from multi-year highs near $130 to $93 earlier this month. Traders have cited a major Russian pipeline outage, a bullish US …

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that new forms of digital money such as cryptocurrencies and stablecoins present risks to the US financial system and will require new rules to protect consumersPowell, speaking Wednesday on a panel organized by the Bank for International Settlements, a global organization of central …

San Francisco Fed President and FOMC member Mary Daly said on Wednesday that she wants to march rates to about 2.5% given that inflation is at the top of her mind, reported Reuters. The real neutral rate is about 0.5%, meaning the nominal rate is around 2.5%, Daly noted, adding …

The flash estimate of March Eurozone Consumer Confidence dropped to two year low at -18.7 in March from -8.8 the month prior, data from the European Commission on Wednesday showed. That was much steeper than the expected drop to -12.9 and marked the worst such reading since May 2020. While …

Inflation fears pushed bond yields higher, with bonds posting record losses, as traders flocked to stocks. But futures contracts for US indices such as the Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq, headed lower. Oil prices also remained volatile with pressure. Investors today seem to be thinking about the distribution of …

Oil prices rose in volatile trading on Wednesday due to disruptions in crude exports from Russia and Kazakhstan via the Caspian Sea pipeline. The price of Brent crude futures rose $3.13, or 2.7 percent, to record $118.61 a barrel. The price had fallen earlier to 114.45 dollars a barrel. The …

Gold prices rose on Wednesday as investors looked for a shield in the face of sharply rising inflation and the uncertainty that events in Ukraine are imposing on the markets, and falling US bond yields provided support for the yellow metal. And gold rose in spot transactions 0.6 percent to …

European shares opened slightly higher on Wednesday, extending gains for the sixth consecutive session, despite continuing concerns about the economic fallout from the Ukraine crisis. Shares of energy and basic materials companies were among the biggest gainers, as fears of supply shortages due to the war between Russia and Ukraine …