25 Mins Ago
Bitcoin rises slightly after Fed decision
Nicolas Economou | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Bitcoin was slightly higher Wednesday afternoon following the Fed’s decision to hold interest rates steady.
The flagship cryptocurrency was up about 1.5% at $68,397.54, according to Coin Metrics. Earlier, it rose as much as $69,999.99.
“Bitcoin might experience short-term volatility as the market adjusts to the news,” analysts from Bitfinex said Wednesday. “However, the overall trend could remain positive, especially if the broader economic outlook continues to improve.”
“Historically, both rate cuts and holding decisions have significant impacts on asset flows and market prices,” they added. “All eight of the last CPI and FOMC events have caused increased volatility, at least on an intra-day or intra-week basis. Since March, however, this volatility increase has been short-lived.”
Coinbase gained 5% in late afternoon trading, while MicroStrategy rose 3%. Mining stocks were up across the board.
— Tanaya Macheel
29 Mins Ago
Investors can expect more rate cuts ahead, Lazard says
The Federal Reserve kept interest rates unchanged during Wednesday’s meeting, although it indicated that it still foresees one rate cut this year.
However, investors can expect the U.S. central bank to increase the number of rate cuts in 2024, according to Ronald Temple, chief market strategist at Lazard.
“Don’t take too much direction from today’s FOMC ‘dot plot,’” he said in an email. “As additional inflation and labor reports through the summer reaffirm that price pressures are decreasing and labor market tightness is easing, I expect FOMC members to reassess their forecasts yet again to include more rate cuts by year-end.”
— Lisa Kailai Han
36 Mins Ago
More than 2 out of every 3 Dow stocks head for losses
While the broader S&P 500 climbed to new highs on Wednesday, the lion’s share of blue-chip Dow stocks headed for losses.
More than 2 out of every 3 names in the 30-stock Dow are tracking to end in the red, while the index as a whole is trading around flat. Salesforce, Nike and Chevron led…
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