Kenny Fisher

There were no surprises from the US Federal Reserve (Fed) at Wednesday’s meeting.

Earlier this month, a US military operation captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro and transported him to New York to face trial for narco-terrorism conspiracy. This was followed by the massive protests in Iran, which were bloodily suppressed by the Iranian regime. President Trump strongly hinted at a military response against Tehran and fears of war in the Middle East increased dramatically. Trump now appears to have backed off, saying it is because Iran agreed not to execute hundreds of protestors. Oil prices, which had climbed to multi-week highs during the unrest, eased after Trump moved away from military action.

The US consumer price index (CPI) climbed 2.7% year-on-year in December, unchanged from November and matching the market estimate.

Australia’s consumer price index (CPI) eased to 3.4% year-on-year in November. This was sharply lower than the 3.8% gain in October and well below the market estimate of 3.7%.

The Federal Reserve released on Tuesday the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting earlier this month. At the meeting, the FOMC voted to lower rates by 25 basis points to a range of 3.5%-3.75%, its lowest level since September 2022.

In November 2025, US inflation surprised sharply to the downside while the labor market weakened, pushing the US dollar lower and US stock indices sharply higher.

The US Federal Reserve (Fed) lowered its benchmark rate by 25 basis points to a range of 3.50%-3.75% at Wednesday’s meeting.

The dominant market data in markets so far today is firm Australian economic growth and Swiss deflation.

US producer prices rose 0.3% in September while retail sales slowed to 0.2%, prompting dollar weakness and modest stock gains amid delayed data and Fed rate pause expectations.

The Bank of England (BoE) maintained the Bank Rate at 4.0% at today’s policy meeting, but more members voted for a rate cut than the consensus forecast anticipated.

The US Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point at Wednesday’s meeting, while hinting that a further rate cut in December may not happen.