Market Wire, North America

As had been widely anticipated, the Federal Reserve left benchmark borrowing rates unchanged this afternoon, and officials delivered a finely-balanced message in the accompanying communications, suggesting that they intend to remain on the sidelines until a clearer picture of underlying economic conditions can emerge. The Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate between 4.25 to 4.50 percent, and in the statement setting out the decision, officials said “Although swings in net exports have affected the data, recent indicators suggest that economic activity has continued to expand at a solid pace. The...

A federal appeals court has temporarily paused implementation of last night’s ruling that voided President Trump’s most wide-ranging tariffs. The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit issued an order this afternoon allowing the administration to keep levies in place until it can hear the Justice Department’s challenge to the lower-court decision, saying “The judgments and the permanent injunctions entered by the Court of International Trade in these cases are temporarily stayed until further notice while this court considers the motions papers”. The plaintiffs in the cases – businesses and state officials – must now prepare briefs by June...

The dollar and equity futures are spiking higher after the US Court of International Trade invalidated many of President Trump’s tariffs on key trading partners, finding in two cases that he had substantially exceeded his authority to impose duties under federal law. Citing the president’s overreach under the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act, a bipartisan panel of three judges this evening suspended the majority of the levies imposed in recent months, including near-universal 10-percent “baseline” tariffs, “reciprocal” measures against a number of countries, and fentanyl-related duties on imports from China, Canada, and Mexico. Other tariffs imposed under different powers,...