Elevated Oil Prices a Constant Weight on Wall Street

Any optimistic investors hoping Wall Street would eventually move past elevated oil prices were disappointed for yet another week. Hotter-than-expected inflation data and cautious rhetoric from Fed Chair Jerome Powell at the conclusion of the Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) two-day meeting did little to put traders at ease, with the central bank keeping interest rates steady and signaling just one rate cut in 2026. As investors monitored Middle East tensions and developments around the Strait of Horm ...