News

(Bloomberg) -- Oil fell on anticipation that Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah would reach a cease-fire agreement, a deal that was announced after futures settled and which was expected to reduce the threat to crude flows from the Middle East. Most Read from BloombergNew York City’s ‘Living Breakwaters’ Brace for Stormier SeasIn Italy’s Motor City, Car-Free Options Are GrowingIn Kansas City, a First-Ever Stadium Designed for Women’s Sports Takes the FieldNYC's Underground Steam System May Be Ke

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Federal Reserve officials appeared divided at their meeting earlier this month over how much farther they may need to cut interest rates, but as a group agreed to avoid giving much guidance from here on about how U.S. monetary policy is likely to evolve. There was uncertainty about the direction of the economy, Fed officials noted, according to the minutes of the Nov. 6-7 meeting, uncertainty about just how much the current level of interest rates was doing to restrict the economy - a key issue in deciding how much further rates should fall - and a developing case to step carefully. "Many participants observed that uncertainties concerning the level of the neutral rate of interest complicated the assessment of the degree of restrictiveness of monetary policy and, in their view, made it appropriate to reduce policy restraint gradually," said the minutes, which were released on Tuesday.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump does not intend to spare crude oil from his planned 25% import tariffs on Canada and Mexico, sources told Reuters on Tuesday, as the oil industry warned the policy could hurt consumers, industry and national security. Canada and Mexico are the top sources of U.S. crude oil imports, together accounting for around a quarter of the oil U.S. refiners process into fuels like gasoline and heating oil, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

(Bloomberg) -- The Federal Reserve is once again considering a tweak to one of the tools used by the US central bank to help control its main benchmark, according to its latest minutes.Most Read from BloombergNew York City’s ‘Living Breakwaters’ Brace for Stormier SeasIn Italy’s Motor City, Car-Free Options Are GrowingIn Kansas City, a First-Ever Stadium Designed for Women’s Sports Takes the FieldNYC's Underground Steam System May Be Key to a Greener FutureNYC Gets Historic Push for 80,000 Homes

With inflation still elevated, Federal Reserve officials expressed caution at their last meeting about cutting interest rates too quickly, adding to uncertainty about their next moves. The minutes don't provide much guidance about what the Fed will do at its next meeting Dec. 17-18. Wall Street investors see the odds of another quarter-point reduction in the Fed's key rate at that meeting as nearly even, according to CME Fedwatch.

Emerging markets are in for a tough and uncertain year due to policy shifts in the United States and uncertain growth in China, JPMorgan said in its annual outlook, predicting emerging markets bond funds were in line for sizeable outflows. "EM growth faces significant uncertainty in 2025, caught between two giants - China and the U.S. – with policy changes in the latter potentially delivering a large negative supply shock that will have spillovers across EM," JPMorgan said on Tuesday. Looking at emerging markets ex-China, JPMorgan predicted growth to moderate to 3.0% from 3.4%.

(Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve officials indicated broad support for a careful approach to future interest-rate cuts as the economy remains solid and inflation slowly cools, minutes from their latest policy meeting showed.Most Read from BloombergNew York City’s ‘Living Breakwaters’ Brace for Stormier SeasIn Italy’s Motor City, Car-Free Options Are GrowingIn Kansas City, a First-Ever Stadium Designed for Women’s Sports Takes the FieldNYC's Underground Steam System May Be Key to a Greener FutureNY