Shutterstock
Stocks continue rally, Fed economists say banking crisis will lead US into recession this year, Ether Tops $2K and outshines Bitcoin, Buffett says Bitcoin has no intrinsic value, Grocery prices decline as inflation eases, FTX attorney says $7.3B in assets recovered and more financial news.
US stock indexes opened higher on Thursday amid a slight cooling of inflation, the banking crisis, and a jump in weekly jobless claims that have investors concerned about what extent the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in its continued battle against inflation, Yahoo Finance reported.
S&P 500 futures advanced 12.25.4 +0.3%, while Dow futures lifted 59 points or +0.17%, and NASDAQ futures rose 68.75 points or +0.53% as of 9:27 AM on Thursday.
Gold continued its rise, up +1.62% at 2057.70.
The benchmark 10-Year Treasury was down -0.029 for a yield of 3.392%, while the 2-Year Treasury was down -0.048 for a yield of 3.924%, as of 9:29 AM EDT.
In oil futures, the benchmark Brent crude was down -0.32% and trading at $87.051 a barrel, while WTI crude was down -0.23 percent and trading at $83.07 a barrel as of 8:30 AM CDT.
Economists at the Federal Reserve are predicting that the recent banking crisis will tilt the US economy into a “mild recession starting later this year,” according to notes from its March 21-22 policy meeting that were publicly posted on Wednesday, CNN Business reported.
“Given their assessment of the potential economic effects of the recent banking-sector developments, the staff’s projection at the time of the March meeting included a mild recession starting later this year, with a recovery over the subsequent two years,” according to the minutes from the meeting, ABC News reported.
Ethereum topped $2,000 on Wednesday, momentarily outshining Bitcoin while clearly riding on the latter’s momentum. Continuing its rally on Thursday morning, Ether was up +5.78% at $2,001.09 as of 9:39 AM EDT, while Bitcoin was up +0.28% at $30,266.99, CoinDesk reported.
With Bitcoin topping $30,000 this week, famed investor Warren Buffett appeared to criticize the digital coin when asked for his opinion on it. Buffett said Bitcoin is “a gambling token, and it doesn’t have any intrinsic value,” FOXBusiness reported. The Oracle of Omaha likened it to a roulette wheel. “It’s a scores now path that eats up your money if you spend the rest of your life spinning around the roulette wheel.”
Grocery prices decreased by 0.2% in March compared to February, marking the first decline in prices since September 2020, according to the latest numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index (CPI). However, grocery costs are still up 8.4% compared to a year earlier, Yahoo Finance reported.
An attorney for bankrupt crypto exchange FTX told the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware on Wednesday that over $7.3 billion in cash and liquid crypto assets have been recovered, an increase of more than $80 million since January, the New York Post reported.
“The situation has stabilized, and the dumpster fire is out,” attorney Andy Dietderich told the court. He said FTX is negotiating with stakeholders about options for restarting the crypto exchange and may make a decision in the current quarter.
