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The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, but also indicate that a reduction in borrowing costs could come as soon as September. Contracts tied to the U.S. central bank's policy rate show investors are convinced a rate cut will happen at the Sept. 17-18 meeting, with the only disagreement over whether the Fed will begin easing policy with a quarter-percentage-point reduction, as most expect, or a more aggressive half-percentage-point cut, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range for the past year.

Global stocks advanced Wednesday and oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel after Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh died in an air strike. Haniyeh died in a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that could escalate conflict in the region, potentially affecting oil supplies. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.

(Bloomberg) -- Just as the Federal Reserve seems ready to clear the way for Latin American central banks to keep cutting interest rates, growing political problems at home are set to disrupt — if not reverse — those easing campaigns.Presidents across the region are lashing out against policymakers for high borrowing costs that are hindering the vigorous economic growth they promised, and in some cases are directly fanning inflation. As central bankers from Brazil, Colombia and Chile all convene

(Bloomberg) -- Australia’s core inflation unexpectedly decelerated last quarter, supporting the Reserve Bank’s view that prices will gradually ease and prompting money markets to boost bets on an interest-rate cut. The currency and bond yields dropped.Traders abandoned wagers on policy tightening at the RBA’s meeting next week after the closely-watched trimmed mean inflation gauge, which smooths out volatile items, advanced 3.9% in the second quarter from 4% in the prior period, government data

Oil futures clawed back some losses on Wednesday, recovering from 7-week lows as geopolitical tensions rose after Israel retaliated against an attack by Hezbollah, although prices remained under pressure from concerns about demand in China. Brent crude futures climbed 39 cents, or 0.5%, to $79.02 a barrel by 0020 GMT ahead of expiry on Wednesday, while the more active October contract was at $78.54, up 47 cents. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 52 cents, or 0.7%, to $75.25 a barrel.

(Bloomberg) -- Oil rose for the first time in four sessions after an industry report pointed to a fifth week of drawdowns in US stockpiles.Most Read from BloombergKamala Harris Wipes Out Trump’s Swing-State Lead in Election Dead HeatLuxury Heir Alleges His $13 Billion Hermès Fortune Has VanishedIntel to Cut Thousands of Jobs to Reduce Costs, Fund ReboundTech Stocks Hit as Microsoft Down 6% in Late Hours: Markets WrapRich Hong Kong Families Sell Mansions at Discounts to Repay DebtBrent crude for

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials are likely to move closer to lowering interest rates from a two-decade high this week by signaling a potential rate cut in September, though they may stop short of providing details beyond that.Most Read from BloombergKamala Harris Wipes Out Trump’s Swing-State Lead in Election Dead HeatLuxury Heir Alleges His $13 Billion Hermès Fortune Has VanishedIntel to Cut Thousands of Jobs to Reduce Costs, Fund ReboundTech Stocks Hit as Microsoft Down 6% in Late Hou