War's Impact: Oil, Stocks, and Fed's Dilemma

0:00On April 1st, financial markets were cruising steady through the first two months of the year, but then warhead and flipped everything upside down. Brink crude oil shot past the $100 a barrel for the first time since summer of 2022, and nationwide gas prices topped four. $1.00 a gallon, the highest since then too. Stocks took a beating in March, with the S&P 500 dropping nearly 4.6%, it's worse quarter since 2022. The Nasdaq fellow were 10% from its October peak, hitting correction territory, while energy giants like Exxon Mobile led the gains. Drivers are feeling the pinch hard, shelling out hundreds of millions more daily on fuel, as one expert put it. That surge complicates things for the Federal Reserve, which held rate steady after three cuts late last year. Lowering them risks more inflation, but keeping them high squeezes growth. Bond yields by two, with a 10-year treasury jumping from 3.97% to as high as 4.44%, pushing up.

1:02Mortgage and loan rates. Traders now bet against any Fed cuts this year amid inflation fears. Uncertainty lingers as President Trump swings between peace talks and escalation threats against Iran's energy setup, while Iran grips the straight-of. Choking a fifth of global oil flow. Expect wild swings and oil and stocks to stick around until that straight eases up. That wraps global news today, brought to you with AI.