Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell speaks during a press conference following the January 28-29 Federal Open Market Committee meeting, in Washington, DC on January 29, 2020. 2:15 pm: Repo operations to continue through AprilThe Federal Reserve’s foray into the repo market will continue through at least April. — Cox2:13 pm: Investors unfazed by decision, eager for presserThe decision was “nothing” says John Briggs of NatWest about the Fed’s statement. 2:00 pm: Fed leaves interest rates

WASHINGTON — The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady at its meeting this week and tweaked its post-meeting statement to reflect what appears to be a stronger commitment to nudge up inflation. The decision marked the second straight meeting the Fed made no changes to rates following three consecutive reductions in 2019. Little changed in the post-meeting statement, save for what could be interpreted as a bit more resolution toward raising what has been a lackluster pace of inflation. Offic

This is a comparison of Wednesday’s Federal Open Market Committee statement with the one issued after the Fed’s previous policy-making meeting on December 11. Text removed from the December statement is in red with a horizontal line through the middle. Text appearing for the first time in the new statement is in red and underlined. Black text appears in both statements.

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren on Wednesday released a plan to fight disinformation and to hold tech companies accountable for their actions in light of the 2016 election. “Disinformation and online foreign interference erode our democracy, and Donald Trump has invited both,” Warren said in a Tweet Wednesday. Warren proposed to combat disinformation by holding big tech companies like Facebook, Twitter and Google responsible for spreading misinformation designed to suppre

Based on this theory, and as the coronavirus outbreak spreads, the time to buy could be as soon as this Thursday. “Health emergency announcements are usually a lagging indicator,” Ned Davis’ Alejandra Grindal said in a note to clients Tuesday. “On average, the bad news has been priced into the market in the months leading to the WHO announcement.” Ned Davis Research found that stocks typically underperformed in the months leading up to the official declaration of a global emergency, before stead

Pierre Albouy | AFP | Getty ImagesThe spread of a fast-moving virus outside of China is of “grave concern” and has prompted the World Health Organization to reconvene an emergency meeting this week to decide whether it’s become a global health emergency, WHO officials said Wednesday. The coronavirus outbreak has killed 132 people in China and sickened more than 6,150 across more than a dozen countries across the globe. Ryan said there are currently 71 cases outside of China in 15 other countries

Internal Boeing messages released this month that showed employees boasting about pressuring regulators into accepting less training for the 737 Max were “unacceptable,” CEO David Calhoun told CNBC on Wednesday. “My stomach turned,” he said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” after Boeing reported its first annual loss since 1997, a dismal result from the fallout from last year’s 737 Max grounding. Boeing released more than 100 pages of internal messages on Jan. 9. The messages were from a time period befor

Novartis’s fourth-quarter core net income rose 13% in constant currencies, helped as its new Zolgensma gene therapy gained traction and five-year-old drugs Cosentyx and Entresto added to their blockbuster status. Core net income rose to $2.99 billion while sales rose 9% to $12.4 billion. For 2020, the Swiss drugmaker expects net sales to grow in the mid-to high-single-digit percentage range, with core operating income expected to grow in the high-single to low-double-digit percentages. For the c

Santander posted a 35% increase in net income for the fourth quarter of 2019, beating market expectations, supported by a rise in its customer base and capital gains. The Spanish bank posted a net profit of 2.78 billion euros ($3.06 billion) in the last quarter of the year. Here are some of the highlights for the fourth quarter:Total income hit 12.5 billion euros — slightly lower than the fourth quarter of 2018. These amounted to about 1.7 million euros ($1.87 million). Nonetheless, their impact

European markets traded cautiously higher on Wednesday as investors in the region look to brush off concerns about the spread of the China coronavirus. Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the country to strengthen its resolve on Tuesday, saying “I believe that as long as we strengthen our confidence, help each other, adopt scientific prevention and containment measures, and persist in precise policies, we will definitely win the battle against the outbreak.” Earnings come from Santander, Nova

Bollywood star Deepika Padukone has spoken out about her battle with depression, calling for greater public discussion to help tackle the mental health crisis. Padukone, who is one of India’s highest-paid actresses, said her experience during a seeming “professional high” revealed the illness’ indiscriminatory nature and inspired her to campaign for other sufferers. “Mental illness crept up on me when I least expected it,” Padukone said last week. “The perception and the general understanding wa

U.S. government debt prices were slightly higher on Wednesday morning, as investors monitored the spread of the coronavirus and looked ahead to a rate decision by the Federal Reserve. ET, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note, which moves inversely to price, was lower at around 1.6355%, while the yield on the 30-year Treasury bond was also lower at around 2.0872%. On Tuesday, the three-month Treasury bill briefly inverted with the 10-Treasury note for the first time since October. Chi

A total of 50 U.S. service members suffered traumatic brain injury from this month’s Iranian missile attack on Iraqi bases hosting American troops, the Pentagon said Tuesday. Last week, the Pentagon said there were 34 service members diagnosed with concussions and traumatic brain injuries. Of the 16 new diagnosed cases, 15 service members have returned to duty in Iraq, Campbell said. That person had been taken to Germany “for other health reasons and has since been diagnosed with a TBI,” Campbel

US President Donald Trump speaks during a “Keep America Great” campaign rally at Huntington Center in Toledo, Ohio, on January 9, 2020. WILDWOOD, N.J. — President Donald Trump praised Rep. Jeff Van Drew, the newest Republican in Congress, as he denounced Democrats’ impeachment efforts at a raucous campaign rally in New Jersey on Tuesday. In response, Trump had vowed to endorse Van Drew, who before switching parties was reportedly facing a tough Democratic primary battle. “What he did was incredi

Over the past 16 years at Trisara, Lark has taken care of a host of bold-faced names — Kate Moss, Roger Federer, Tom Jones, Kylie Minogue, members of U2 and Maroon 5. Phuket earns its first Michelin starIn 2016, Trisara opened Pru — a restaurant specifically aimed at catering to the tastes of nomadic foodies and wealthy travelers. “It’s unbelievable the impact winning a Michelin star has had on me as a chef, and on this restaurant,” Ophorst said. Ophorst said when Pru was opened, a key goal was

A recent trade deal between Beijing and Washington could suffer “collateral damage” if the spread of coronavirus in China causes prolonged demand disruption, according to a recent report by Panjiva Research. Wuhan and the surrounding region of Hefei and Jiangsu — that have also been shut down due to the virus outbreak — are major manufacturing hubs that work with American firms. Apple CEO Tim Cook said Tuesday the ongoing coronavirus outbreak in China has impacted the Cupertino-based tech giant’

The number of coronavirus cases in China has already surpassed that of SARS, and the economic impact of the new virus from Wuhan could be more severe than the 2002-2003 epidemic, or at least similar, according to economists. It took more than 6 months for the number of SARS cases to surpass 5,000 in mainland China. China had 5,327 SARS cases between Nov. 1 2002 and July 31 2003, according to the World Health Organization. On the other hand, it’s taken about a month for the number of new coronavi

Fighting in Libya resurged over the weekend, torching a cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey in early January. ‘The new Syria’Nine years after a U.S.-led coalition toppled Gadhafi, Libya remains a fractured state, ravaged by civil war and terrorism. And a vast array of competing foreign interests have entered the Libyan arena, including Turkey, Russia, Qatar, France, Italy, the United Arab Emirates and Egypt. In early 2017, Russian mercenaries began appearing in Libya to support Haftar as we

U.S. stock index futures rose on Wednesday morning as markets continue to rebound from Monday’s heavy sell-off. ET, Dow futures were up by 55 points and implied a positive open of more than 92 points, while futures on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were also higher. Chinese officials said late Tuesday that the death toll has risen to 132 with total cases in China now standing at 5,974. Corporate earnings season remains in focus, after Goldman Sachs and Apple led the Dow’s gains on Tuesday. AT&T, Boeing,

Chinese President Xi Jinping is facing a major political crisis from the ongoing coronavirus outbreak, experts said. By the end of Tuesday, there were 5,974 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in mainland China, according to the country’s National Health Commission. “This is the probably the greatest political challenge that he’s faced since taking office in 2012,” Sherlock told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” Volker Stanzel, a former German ambassador to China, said the coronavirus outbreak is the bigg