The Fed is expected to raise interest rates Wednesday by a quarter point, and the pressure is on for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to sound dovish — but not too dovish. Fed officials are also expected to revisit their fed funds rate forecasts and roll back some of the rate hikes expected in the next several years.
markets
Crude Oil Prices Surge more than 4% as OPEC nears Deal to Cut Output
Brent crude, the international benchmark for oil prices, rose $2.78, or 2.6 percent, to $62.84 a barrel by 8:47 a.m. ET (1347 GMT). U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up $2.17, or 4.2 percent, at $53.66 per barrel.
India’s Sensex Declines Ahead of Central Bank’s Rate Review
The S&P BSE Sensex declined 0.6 percent, the most in two weeks, to 35,907.31 as of 9:53 a.m. in Mumbai, while the NSE Nifty 50 Index slipped 0.7 percent. Markets across Asia tumbled following the biggest slide on Wall Street since mid-October.
Crude Oil Jumps – Russia, Saudis Agree to Extend Alliance, But without specifics
Oil surged the most in more than five months as Saudi Arabia and Russia extended a cooperation pact and U.S.-China trade tensions cooled. Unprecedented supply cuts in Canada also drove prices higher.
As Fed Rethinks Path for Rates, Gold’s Poised to Jump in 2019
Gold may be poised to rally as speculation mounts that the Federal Reserve will hit the pause button on interest rate hikes in 2019.