Post FOMC
by Mark O’Brien, Senior Broker
General:
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced that it will leave its benchmark interest rate unchanged as policymakers continue to monitor inflation and the labor market amid elevated levels of economic uncertainty.
“Uncertainty about the economic outlook has increased further,” the Fed indicated in its FOMC Statement. “The Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate and judges that the risks of higher unemployment and higher inflation have risen.”
The central bank’s decision leaves the benchmark federal funds rate at a range of 4.25% to 4.5%.
It comes after the Fed left rates at that level at its two previous meetings in January and March, which followed three consecutive rate cuts at its preceding meetings – which involved a 50-basis-point cut in September and a pair of 25-basis-point reductions in November and December.
Metals:
June gold futures ended April closing nine days with a >$100 per ounce price range, a $10,000 per contract move between its daily high and low trades. Five trading days into May and we’ve already seen two more, with a couple of >$80 ranges thrown in.
Energies:
June crude oil traded intraday Monday – on the Sunday opening – to $55.30/barrel and closed at the lowest in four years ($57.13 a barrel back in February 2021), after OPEC+ agreed to hike production for a second month. The eight producers in the group, led by Saudi Arabia, agreed on Saturday to increase output by another 411,000 barrels per day in June. The decision comes one month after OPEC+ surprised the market by agreeing to boost production in May by the same amount. |
