EUR/USD
1.15095
-0.259%
Gold
4884.20
-2.436%
Oil
95.318
0.104%
USD/JPY
159.389
0.249%
GBP/USD
1.33290
-0.195%
GBP/JPY
212.454
0.115%
Real-time News
Jeff Currie, Chief Strategy Officer for Energy Pathways at The Carlyle Group: The oil market has underestimated the impact of supply shocks, and the current turmoil is a mirror image of the pandemic period.CEO of Mexicos state-owned oil company: The company is ensuring gasoline prices remain stable.Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will hold a monetary policy press conference in ten minutes.On March 19th, a US official denied US involvement in the attacks on Iranian gas facilities, stating that the operations were carried out by Israel. This came after Iran claimed that the US and Israel jointly attacked oil and gas production facilities, including the South Pars gas field, one of the worlds largest gas fields. Israeli sources on the 18th stated that the Israeli Defense Forces attacked Irans "largest gas facility," located in Bushehr in southern Iran. This facility processes 40% of Irans natural gas. Israeli officials also indicated that the attack was coordinated with the US.On March 19th, amid widespread market expectations of interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve this year and next, one Fed policymaker predicted a rate hike next year. This prediction represents a minority view: most Fed policymakers still believe in rate cuts this year, consistent with their view in December. However, with the Iran war and its resulting surge in oil prices continuing into its third week, the sole prediction of a rate hike next year suggests a potential debate about whether its possible to combat inflation that has exceeded target levels over the past five years without changing interest rates. Furthermore, there are increasing signs that the Fed is trending towards a more hawkish policy stance. Even the most dovish policymaker (Milan) expects a 100 basis point rate cut this year, compared to his December forecast of 150 basis points. For this year, 7 of the Feds 19 policymakers believe interest rates will remain unchanged by the end of the year, 7 believe a 0.25 percentage point rate cut is needed, and 5 believe at least two rate cuts are necessary.
