- US stocks fell on Wednesday as investors continued to fear the prospect of higher interest rates.
- Germany’s inflation rate unexpectedly accelerated in February, raising fears that the same thing could happen in the US.
- The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates at least twice to the 5% level.
US stocks started the month of March in the red as investors continued to fear the prospect of higher interest rates.
The inflation rate unexpectedly accelerated in Germany last month, and food inflation in the UK also rose, according to new data. That raises fears that the same thing could happen in the US. Any inflation readings that don’t show a meaningful slowdown raise the risk that interest rates will remain much higher.
The Federal Reserve is expected to raise rates at least twice to the 5% level, but further increases may be possible.
Here’s where U.S. indexes stood shortly after the 9:30 a.m. ET open on Wednesday:
Here’s what else happened this morning:
In commodities, bonds and crypto:
- West Texas Intermediate crude fell 0.65% to $76.55 a barrel. Brent crude, the international oil benchmark, fell 0.37% to $83.14.
- Gold rose 0.40% to $1,844.00 an ounce.
- The yield on the 10-year Treasury rose three basis points to 3.95%.
- Bitcoin fell 0.46% to $23,683, while ether fell 0.28% to $1,654.