Tag: interest rates

Fed Raises Interest Rates by 0.75 Percentage Points to Highest Level Since 2008

The Federal Reserve raised the benchmark federal funds rate by 75 basis points to a new target range of 3 to 3.25 percent on Wednesday, matching market expectations. This is the third consecutive three-quarter point rate hike, as the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) lifted interest rates to their highest levels since 2008. Markets had…


Fed Raises Interest Rates by 0.75 Percentage Point to Highest Level Since 2008

The Federal Reserve raised the benchmark federal funds rate by 75 basis points to a target range of 3 percent to 3.25 percent on Sept. 21, matching market expectations. Fed officials indicated that further big increases were likely at two remaining meetings this year. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has lifted its benchmark rate…


Stocks Close Lower Ahead of Fed Decision on Interest Rates

Stocks finished broadly lower Tuesday as Wall Street, increasingly anxious about the slowing economy, looks ahead to a widely expected interest rate hike by the Federal Reserve in its bid to squash the highest inflation in decades. The S&P 500 index fell 1.1 percent, as more than 90 percent of stocks and every sector in…


BOJ Seen Sticking to Ultra-Low Rates, Defy Global Rate Hike Rush

TOKYO—The Bank of Japan is set to maintain ultra-low interest rates and its dovish policy guidance on Thursday, a decision that comes hours after its U.S. counterpart’s expected big rate hike and could trigger a fresh bout of yen selling. The policy gap between the Bank of Japan (BOJ) and the U.S. Federal Reserve has…


Capitol Report (Sept. 20): Democrats Push for New Election Law; Inflation Key Issue for Americans

Weeks away from the midterms, Democrats are ramping up a last-ditch effort to change the way campaigns operate. They say it’s exposing dark money, while Republicans call it an effort to federalize elections. Interest rates are expected to see another rate hike by the Federal Reserve this week. How will that affect consumers and living…


East and West Diverge on Monetary Policy

Commentary Inflation has forced Western central banks to raise interest rates, but in Asia, China has taken the opposite tack. All the central bankers—East and West—worry over a recession. Still, the lessons of the last great inflation of the 1970s and 1980s have convinced the Federal Reserve (Fed), the European Central Bank (ECB), and other…


World Bank Sees Rising Risk of Global Recession in 2023

WASHINGTON—The world may be edging toward a global recession as central banks across the world simultaneously hike interest rates to combat persistent inflation, the World Bank said on Thursday. The world’s three largest economies—the United States, China, and the euro area—have been slowing sharply, and even a “moderate hit to the global economy over the…


Global Container Freight Rates Have Halved Since March as Demands Drop and Inflation Looms

Global container freight rates have been falling since March, and the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) has nearly halved in the past six months. The third quarter of each year is the traditional peak season for freight. However, this year, the freight industry has experienced a downshift due to global inflation, weakened economic outlooks, and shrunken…


Global Container Freight Rates Have Halved Since March as Demand Drops and Inflation Looms

Global container freight rates have been falling since March, and the Freightos Baltic Index (FBX) has nearly halved in the past six months. The third quarter of each year is the traditional peak season for freight. However, this year, the freight industry has experienced a downshift due to global inflation, weakened economic outlooks, and shrunken…


Credit Card Debt Jumped by Record $67.1 Billion in Second Quarter Amid Soaring Inflation

U.S. consumers added a total of $67.1 billion in credit card debt during the second quarter of a financial year in 2022 amid soaring inflation, according to a new WalletHub study. The quarterly credit card debt study is based on an analysis of the latest data on consumers’ finances from TransUnion as well as the Federal Reserve and…