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No change in
Fed’s rate
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve left its key interest rate unchanged Wednesday despite persistently high inflation and a spike in energy prices caused by the Iran war.
The Fed’s rate-setting committee reached the 9-3 decision after two days of deliberations, marking the fifth straight meeting at which the benchmark rate was kept at around 3.6%. Three Fed officials dissented in favor of a rate increase, and Fed Chair Kevin Warsh described the policy discussion to reporters as a “good family fight.”
Inflation has been stuck above the central bank’s 2% target for more than five years and Wall Street still expects a rate hike in September.
Wall Street
sees losses
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices got back to jumping, while sinking technology stocks dragged Wall Street lower amid uncertainty about what the Federal Reserve will do to get high inflation under control.
The S&P 500 fell 1.5% Wednesday after briefly erasing all of an earlier drop of 1.2%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average tumbled 2.2%, and the Nasdaq composite sank 1.7%.
The price of Brent oil leaped back above $88 per barrel to add further pressure on inflation.
Earthquake
hits Japan
KUMAMOTO, Japan (AP) -- Soldiers and emergency workers are combing through a badly damaged shopping mall and collapsed houses looking for trapped survivors Wednesday after a powerful earthquake that killed at least 18 people in southwestern Japan.
A magnitude 7.1 earthquake hit a day earlier in the Kumamoto area on the southern main island of Kyushu. The prefectural government said it left at least 62 people injured, six of them seriously.
The tally has been steadily growing, fanning fears it may continue to rise. It remains unclear how many people might still be missing.
Trump wants
verdict tossed
WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Donald Trump and his administration are asking the Supreme Court to dismiss an $83 million defamation verdict won by writer E. Jean Carroll after she accused him of sexual assault.
This is the first time a court has assessed damages against a president for statements made while in office. Trump previously asked the justices to dismiss another verdict, for $5 million. The Supreme Court refused in June to hear that appeal.
The Justice Department filed papers seeking to invoke the Westfall Act, which shields government employees from being sued for doing their jobs. Carroll’s lawyers have declined to comment.