Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas’ latest offer for a ceasefire and return of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, but U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there was still room for negotiation toward an agreement.
Scammers targeting institutions such as hospitals, schools and government offices for ransom pocketed $1.1 billion last year, compared with $567 million in 2022.
Gold prices fell within a holding pattern after robust U.S. economic data and a chorus of hawkish Federal Reserve comments saw markets largely price out expectations for early interest rate cuts this year.
Analysts pointed to technical factors for the dollar’s pullback, following a two-day rally of as much as 1.4% against Europe’s shared currency after unexpectedly strong U.S. jobs data and more hawkish rhetoric from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell scuppered bets for an early interest rate cut.
Regional currencies were nursing steep losses over the past three sessions, after a string of robust U.S. economic readings and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials saw traders largely price out bets on early rate cuts by the central bank.
Bullion prices were battered by bets on higher-for-longer interest rates, especially following a slew of strong U.S. economic readings and hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials.
These remarks from Powell are critical for the cryptocurrency market because they indicate that the Federal Reserve is still striving to navigate the economy toward a state where inflation is under control without triggering a recession.
The best performers of the session on the S&P/ASX 200 were Appen Ltd (ASX:APX), which rose 10.19% or 0.03 points to trade at 0.30 at the close. Meanwhile, Omni Bridgeway Ltd (ASX:OBL) added 7.35% or 0.10 points to end at 1.46 and Zip Co Ltd (ASX:ZIP) was up 6.37% or 0.05 points to 0.83 in late trade.
Her world tour, along with others by acts including Beyonce and Coldplay, has been cited by some experts as a factor in temporarily spurring inflation in several countries including the United States. Others have said the impact of the concerts on inflation are overstated.
A string of robust U.S. economic data and remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell have quashed speculation of early and steep interest rate cuts and supported the greenback.
