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Central banks are talking about new interest rate hikes and the market fears a global recession.
At 1:08 pm (Brasília time) this Thursday (16), the March contract for WTI oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) fell 0.22%, at US$ 78.42/barrel. The weekly accumulated was a devaluation of 1.63%.
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The market was more averse to risk, as seen in the 0.13% increase in the index (DXY) – an index that compares the strength of the dollar with the main world currencies.
The president of the Federal Reserve (Fed, the central bank of the United States) in Cleveland, Loretta Mester, warned that it is necessary to increase interest rates even further. “At this juncture […] we will need to raise the federal funds rate above 5% and maintain it for some time to be sufficiently restrictive and ensure that inflation is on a sustainable path back to 2%,” he said.
Data from the US Department of Labor indicate that the North American economy remains robust. The number of new unemployment benefit claims fell to 194,000 in the week ended February 11, compared to 195,000 in the previous week and market expectations of 200,000.
In Europe, the monthly report from the European Central Bank (ECB) reinforced the statement by the institution's president, Christine Lagarde, about raising the bloc's interest rates by 0.50 percentage points in March. “Maintaining interest rates at restrictive levels will reduce inflation over time by dampening demand”, points out the note.
Source: datagro
