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close video Fed is willing to go pretty far to tame inflation: Thomas Hoenig

Former Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO Thomas Hoenig joined Mornings with Maria to discuss the Federal Reserves forthcoming rate hike decision.

A high-stakes inflation report due Wednesday is expected to show that price pressures within the economy remained strong last month despite an aggressive interest rate hike campaign by the Federal Reserve.

Economists expect the consumer price index, which measures a basket of goods, including gasoline, health care, groceries and rent, to show that monthly prices rose 0.4% in April, up from the increase of 0.1% recorded the previous month. On an annual basis, inflation is projected to have climbed 5%, unchanged from March but down from a peak of 9.1% in June. 

That remains nearly three times higher than the pre-pandemic average, the latest evidence that inflation is "moderating at a snail's pace," Bank of America economist Michael Gapen said. 

Other parts of the report are also expected to point to a slow retreat for inflation, a worrisome sign for the U.S. central bank. Core prices, which exclude the more volatile measurements of food and energy, are expected to climb 0.4% or 5.5% annually, suggesting that underlying price pressures remain strong. 

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"As we have been saying for some time now, we expect that slowing economic activity will trigger a material deceleration in inflation, but the path back to 2% will be long and bumpy," Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a note Friday.  

Consumers were likely squeezed last month in the form of higher food and gasoline prices. Analysts expect that groceries posted another cost increase as major companies like PepsiCo, Nestle and Unilever announced price hikes in their most recent quarterly earnings calls.

DEBT CEILING DEADLINE IS CLOSER THAN PREVIOUSLY EXPECTED – HERE'S WHY

On top of that, gas prices spiked in early April after OPEC+ unexpectedly slashed oil production; AAA data indicates daily gas prices rose by 5.2% in April from the previous year. 

"Unfortunately, it has been like watching the financial equivalent of a car wreck," said Mark Hamrick, an economic analyst at Bankrate. "Between the spikes in gasoline, food and shelter prices, there has been no shortage of sources of aggravation associated with inflation for many months now. This tension is easing but hasn’t gone away."

A man shops for meat at a Safeway grocery store in Annapolis, Md., May 16, 2022. (Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Federal Reserve is closely watching the report for evidence inflation is finally subsiding as policymakers try to cool the economy with a series of aggressive interest rate hikes. Officials approved the 10th straight rate increase last week, lifting the benchmark federal funds rate to a range of 5% to 5.25%, the highest since 2007.

FED RAISES INTEREST RATES A QUARTER POINT, HINTS AT POSSIBLE PAUSE

But central bankers also opened the door to a long-awaited pause in the tightening cycle, although they stressed that it hinged on upcoming economic data.

Shoppers in a Kroger supermarket Oct. 14, 2022, in Atlanta. (Elijah Nouvelage/AFP via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The Fed is also taking into consideration other economic indicators, including job growth and consumer inflation expectations. In a potentially worrisome sign for the central bank, both hiring and wage growth came in stronger-than-expected last month.

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The April jobs report showed employers added 253,000 jobs in last month, and the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.4%, the lowest since 1969. 

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Two-year-old killed in motorway collision – as five others in hospital with serious injuries

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Two-year-old killed in motorway collision - as five others in hospital with serious injuries

A two-year-old boy has died, and five others have been seriously injured after their broken-down car was hit by another vehicle on the A1 motorway.

The collision occurred on Saturday at about 6.20pm when a Toyota Auris was struck by a Volkswagen Touran in a live lane of the A1 northbound, just past the Stibbington junction.

The boy from London was one of six passengers who were in the Toyota.

The five other passengers from London were taken to Peterborough City Hospital with serious injuries.

A 64-year-old man, the driver of the Volkswagen, has been arrested on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving and has been released on bail until 20 March.

He suffered minor injuries.

Cambridgeshire Police are investigating the incident and appealing for witnesses and dashcam footage.

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Sgt David McIlwhan said: “Our thoughts are with the parents and family of this young child who has tragically lost his life in this collision. The family is being supported by specialist family liaison officers.

“I would appeal for anyone who witnessed the collision or has dashcam footage but was unable to stop at the scene, to get in touch.”

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly.

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OKX reports trading increase after expansion into US, EU

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OKX reports trading increase after expansion into US, EU

Crypto exchange OKX said volume in its licensed and regulated markets increased 53-fold in 2025, driven by its expansion into the United States and the European Economic Area.

Citing internal data, the exchange said daily active wallets doubled over the past year, with an average of about 190,000 new wallets created each day, while decentralized exchange volume on its platform rose 262% globally and centralized trading increased 16% over the same period.

The company attributed its market growth to an operating model focused on licensed access to regulated markets. OKX expanded across the European Economic Area in January after receiving a license under the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets framework, or MiCA.

In the United States, the exchange noted that its April market entry coincided with several positive regulatory developments, including the passage of the GENIUS Act and steps by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter crypto-native trust banks.

Data from CoinMarketCap place OKX fourth globally among cryptocurrency exchanges, using rankings that weigh factors such as platform traffic, liquidity, reported trading volume and confidence in volume authenticity.

In December, OKX was among several cryptocurrency exchanges blocked in Belarus after the Ministry of Information restricted access to their global websites, citing violations related to “inappropriate advertising” under the country’s Law on Mass Media.

Coinbase, Kraken, MiCA, OKX, Bybit, Genius Act
Top crypto spot exchanges. Source: CoinMarketCap

Related: OKX adds decentralized trading for US users as DEX volumes hit record high

Top exchanges secure licensing in Europe

The MiCA legislation created a single licensing regime for crypto service providers across the bloc and became fully applicable to exchanges in December 2024. Since then, several major platforms have moved to secure approvals that allow them to passport services across the European Economic Area.

In 2025, Bybit received authorization from Austria’s Financial Market Authority and established Vienna as its European headquarters, while Coinbase obtained a MiCA license a month later from Luxembourg and designated the country as its regional base.

Kraken followed with approval from the Central Bank of Ireland, building on earlier MiFID and electronic money licenses, and Gemini secured authorization from Malta’s Financial Services Authority in August, according to regulatory records.

In the US, the passage of the GENIUS Act in July established a federal framework governing stablecoin issuance and use. Since then, the stablecoin market has grown to more than $310 billion, with US dollar–backed tokens Tether’s USDt (USDT) and Circle’s USDC (USDC) together accounting for about 85% of total supply, according to data from DefiLlama.

Coinbase, Kraken, MiCA, OKX, Bybit, Genius Act
Stablecoin market cap. Source: DefiLlama

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