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Top Gap Ups and Downs on Wednesday: CI, IBN, EA and More
Concerns over tariffs have led economists to raise their inflation expectations for the USA in 2025, while expectations for interest rate cuts have decreased.
Economists have raised their forecasts for inflation in the USA next year due to tariff concerns and now expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates one less time than previously anticipated a month ago. According to the latest Bloomberg monthly survey of economists, the annual core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price Index is expected to average a 2.5% increase next year. The forecast for this inflation indicator favored by the Federal Reserve is higher than the 2.3% in the previous month's survey. Although economists expect the Federal Reserve to lower rates for the third consecutive meeting on Wednesday, they now anticipate that policymakers will only cut rates three more times in 2025, each by 25 basis points, during the March, June, and September meetings.
Cocoa prices have reached a new historical high, and analysts say prices will continue to fluctuate next year.
In 2024, the prices of key ingredients for chocolate surged, prompting analysts to warn of extreme price fluctuations. On Tuesday morning Eastern Time, the New York Cocoa Futures contract for March delivery reached a peak increase of 1%, rising to $11,938 per metric ton, setting a new historical high. It later gave back some of its gains, trading at approximately $11,864 per metric ton around 8:20 AM Eastern Time on Tuesday. So far this year, the futures price has increased by over 180%. Meanwhile, concerns about adverse weather conditions and supply shortages in West Africa have resurfaced, with cocoa production in West Africa accounting for about the world's ...
