Crude oil prices plunged more than 2 percent on Wednesday as fears of further monetary tightening by Federal Reserve triggered worries about recession and the potential demand for crude oil. Concerns that European Central Bank, Bank of England, Reserve Bank of Australia etc. have not yet stopped hiking rates added to worries about the depth of the rebound in China. The Fed's decision would be known later in the day. The ECB would announce its decision on Thursday while the Bank of England's review is slated for next week.
The Dollar's weakness, amidst expectations that the Fed would pause after a widely expected 25-basis points rate hike in the current session dragged the Dollar Index (DXY), a measure of the Dollar's strength against a basket of 6 currencies, 0.41 percent overnight to 101.54. The Dollar's weakness however did not suffice to support crude oil prices overwhelmed by concerns about a recession triggered by the unabated rate hikes.
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Business News
May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.