With inflation heating up, growth holding firm and markets dialing back rate cut bets, the Federal Reserve heads into its April meeting under pressure for what is likely to be Chair Jerome Powell?s last press conference.
Bitcoin held near $76,000 while major altcoins remained subdued, as traders positioned cautiously ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee meeting. Notable Statistics: Notable Developments: Trader Notes: Bitcoin technical analyst CryptoCon said Bitcoin is facing strong resistance around the $78,000 level, where multiple indicators, including the Simple Bands midline, are acting as a ceiling.
Market Intelligence analyst Jeff Lipton argues MRBs can add value to conservative muni sleeves, but warns that extraordinary redemption features, prepayment behavior, loan origination performance and liquidity constraints can make redemption analysis just as important as credit analysis.
The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index rose to 92.8 in April from a 92.2 reading in March reflecting an increase in the expectations reading that was partially offset by a decline in the reading for current conditions. Current employment conditions improved but the assessment of current business conditions deteriorated.
The Federal Open Market Committee is widely expected to maintain the target range for its federal funds rate at 3.50% to 3.75% at its meeting this week, putting the focus on post-meeting comments from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Powell is due to leave his post before the next FOMC meeting in June but has said he will remain until his named replacement, Kevin Warsh, is confirmed.
Financial stocks were advancing in Tuesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.5% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF up 0.4%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was decreasing 0.9%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF was up 0.6%. Bitcoin was falling 1.5% to $76,184, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 2.6 basis points to 4.36%. ...
The top two municipal bond insurers wrapped over $7.704 billion in the first quarter of 2026, up 4.9% year-over-year from the $7.342 billion in Q1 2025, according to LSEG data.
Gold traded at a month low midafternoon Tuesday as rising oil prices threaten to boost inflation and raise interest rates, while the dollar and treasury yields moved higher. Gold for June delivery was last seen down US$82.80 to US$4,610.90 per ounce, the lowest since March 30.
Financial stocks were advancing in Tuesday afternoon trading, with the NYSE Financial Index rising 0.4% and the State Street Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF ahead 0.5%. The Philadelphia Housing Index was decreasing 0.9%, and the State Street Real Estate Select Sector SPDR ETF was up 0.6%. Bitcoin was falling 1.5% to $76,184, and the yield for 10-year US Treasuries rose 2.6 basis points to 4.36...
Billionaire investor Michael Novogratz said Bitcoin could struggle to reclaim the $100,000 level without a meaningful shift in macroeconomic conditions, particularly monetary policy. Speaking on the broader crypto outlook to Bloomberg on Tuesday, Novogratz said a sustained move higher in Bitcoin would likely require central banks, especially the Federal Reserve, to ease policy.
US consumer confidence unexpectedly rose in April amid an improvement in labor market perceptions, though there were concerns about elevated gasoline prices driven by the Middle East conflict, a survey by the Conference Board showed Tuesday.
Vanguard is expanding its fixed-income toolkit with the launch of a new suite of model portfolios built using its existing Target Maturity Corporate Bond ETFs. The offering is aimed at financial advisors seeking more efficient ways to construct customized bond portfolios, as demand grows for precision in managing interest rate and credit risk without adding operational complexity.
Moody's: * MOODY'S RATINGS DOWNGRADES GOEASY LTD.'S SENIOR UNSECURED RATING TO B2 FROM B1; REVISES OUTLOOK TO STABLE Source text: Further company coverage:
IC Manage today announced major advances to GDP-AI, its industry-leading design and IP management system, to further empower teams doing custom design in Cadence Virtuoso. IC Manage GDP-AI is the industry?s highest performance, most reliable & scalable global design data & IP management system ? and the de facto standard for design management for custom IC design in Virtuoso.
European stock markets closed mostly lower in Tuesday trading with the Stoxx 600 down 0.4%, Germany's DAX shedding 0.2%, the FTSE 100 rising 0.1%, France's CAC decreasing 0.5%, and the Swiss Market Index easing 0.1%. In economic news, continental consumers in March expected inflation in the next 12 months to log at 4%, up from the 2.5% rate in February, the European Central Bank said.
* BOJ holds rates steady in split vote. * Euro and Swiss franc lose ground against dollar. * Dollar index edges higher after two-day losing streak ahead of Fed meeting. By Chibuike Oguh and Sophie Kiderlin. The dollar strengthened on Tuesday as risk-off sentiment driven by the Iran war outweighed a brief yen rally sparked by the Bank of Japan's most divided policy vote under Governor Kazuo Ueda.
Today the Board of Directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Indianapolis declared its first quarter 2026 dividends on Class B-2 activity-based capital stock and Class B-1 non-activity-based stock at annualized rates of 9.50% and 4.00%, respectively. The dividends will be paid in cash on April?29, 2026.
Fitch: * FITCH RATINGS: JAPAN'S ENTRENCHED INFLATION WILL PROMPT FURTHER BOJ TIGHTENING. * FITCH: FORECASTS BANK OF JAPAN WILL CONTINUE TO RAISE RATES, WITH POLICY RATE INCREASING Source text:
* Spot gold falls 2% to lowest in nearly 4 weeks. * Trump rejects latest Iranian proposal. * UAE announces decision to withdraw from OPEC. * Fed expected to hold rates steady at end of meeting on Wednesday. By Ishaan Arora.
A Middle East conflict now in its ninth week has splintered the U.S. fixed-income market, with investors in corporate credit behaving as if the Iran war is over while those holding Treasuries remain focused on inflation risks that could limit Federal Reserve easing. That disconnect underscores the challenge facing the Fed this week.
Outamation, a pioneer in automation and digital transformation, today announced that OutamateMods? is now fully integrated with Fannie Mae?s SMDU and Freddie Mac?s Resolve platforms. ?Servicers should not have to manage separate workflows for every investor type.
BlackRock (BLK) is integrating its tokenized money market fund BUIDL with cryptocurrency exchange OKX as Bitcoin spot ETFs continue to attract significant inflows. Under the arrangement, the fund can be used as collateral while continuing to generate yield from low-risk assets such as U.S. Treasuries.
Herc Holdings (HRI) released first-quarter financial results and hosted an earnings call on Tuesday. This content is powered by Benzinga APIs. Access the full call at https://events.q4inc.com/attendee/164532046 Herc Holdings Inc (HRI) completed the integration of H and E Equipment Services, expanding their branch network by 30% and focusing on optimizing fleet mix and driving efficiencies.
U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly edged higher in April amid a rally in share prices following a ceasefire in the war with Iran and improved perceptions of the labor market, helping to ease households' financial worries for now.
The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence rose to 92.8 in April from an upwardly revised 92.2 reading in March, compared with a decrease to a reading of 89.0 expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET.
U.S. consumer confidence unexpectedly ticked up in April as a ceasefire in the war with Iran boosted stock prices while labor market perceptions improved, a survey showed on Tuesday. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index climbed 0.6 points to 92.8 this month.
Confidence Inched Higher Despite Spiking Prices Amid Middle East Turmoil NEW YORK, April 28, 2026 The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index??edged up by 0.6 points to 92.8 in April, from 92.2 in March's upwardly revised reading.
* Spot gold falls 2% to lowest in nearly 4 weeks. * Trump rejects latest Iranian proposal. * UAE announces decision to withdraw from OPEC. * Fed expected to hold rates steady at end of meeting on Wednesday. By Ishaan Arora.
Inflation in most countries will be markedly higher this year than predicted three months ago amid a stalemate in the energy crisis brought about by the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran, according to a Reuters poll of around 500 economists, who barely altered their positive global growth view.
U.S. single-family house prices were unchanged on a monthly basis in February, but elevated mortgage rates as the war with Iran continues could keep the dream of owning a home out of the reach of many young Americans. The flat reading in house prices followed an upwardly revised 0.2% increase in January, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said on Tuesday.
Federal National Mortgage
Association (FNMA): * FANNIE MAE - CONVENTIONAL SINGLE-FAMILY SERIOUS DELINQUENCY RATE DECREASED 2 BASIS POINTS TO 0.58% IN MARCH 2026. * FANNIE MAE - MULTIFAMILY SERIOUS DELINQUENCY RATE INCREASED 4 BASIS POINTS TO 0.78% IN MARCH. * FANNIE MAE - FANNIE MAE'S GUARANTY BOOK OF BUSINESS INCREASED AT COMPOUND ANNUALIZED RATE OF 1.0% IN MARCH.
Gold traded at a month low early Tuesday as rising oil prices threaten to boost inflation and raise interest rates, while the dollar and treasury yields moved higher. Gold for June delivery was last seen down $99.60 to US$4,594.10 per ounce, the lowest since March 30.
By Jamie McGeever. As Jerome Powell prepares to chair what is almost certainly his final Federal Reserve policy meeting, debate is raging about the merits of his eight-year tenure and his place in the 113-year-old institution's pantheon. From an economic standpoint, the case for ranking him highly is strong, despite a few notable stumbles.
VALLEY FORGE, Pa., April 28, 2026 Vanguard today announced the launch of a new suite of model portfolios constructed using Vanguard Target Maturity Corporate Bond ETFs, a lineup of 10 index ETFs designed to help investors build more precise and customizable fixed income portfolios.
The Case-Shiller National Home Price index rose by 0.3% in February before seasonal adjustment following a 0.2% decrease in January. The 10-city index rose by 0.6% in the month, while the 20-city index was up 0.4%. National home prices were up 0.7% year-over-year, down from a 0.8% annual gain in January.
The FHFA's measure of home prices held steady in February after an upwardly revised 0.2% increase in the previous month, below the 0.1% gain expected in a survey compiled by Bloomberg as of 7:30 am ET. Prices were up 1.7% from a year earlier in February.
Foreign demand for U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds has remained strong for 15 consecutive months, according to Citigroup, as overseas investors rotate into technology, media and telecom debt, as well as longer maturities, while moving away from financial bonds.
Brazil's inflation accelerated less than expected in early April despite a jump in fuel and food prices, official data showed on Tuesday, reinforcing market expectations that the central bank will deliver a fresh interest rate cut later this week.
WASHINGTON, April 28, 2026 Fannie Mae's?March 2026 Monthly Summary is now available. ?. View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/fannie-mae-releases-march-2026-monthly-summary-302755357.html. SOURCE Fannie Mae.
ROSELAND, N.J., April 28, 2026 ?For the four weeks ending April 11, 2026, U.S. private employers added an average of 39,250 jobs per week, according to the NER Pulse, a weekly update of the monthly ADP National Employment Report. After a strengthening trend, hiring was downwardly revised in the first week of April.
Bitcoin trades near $76,000 as institutional flows turned negative ahead of a closely watched Federal Reserve meeting. Bitcoin ETFs saw $263.2 million in net outflows on Monday, while Ethereum ETFs reported $50.5 million in net outflows. ? Meme coin market capitalization is down 3.5% to $36.4 billion over the past 24 hours.
* BOJ holds interest rates at 0.75% as expected, in 6-3 vote. * Yen steady after BOJ press conference. * Dollar edges higher after two-day losing streak ahead of Fed meeting. By Sophie Kiderlin. The dollar strengthened slightly while the Japanese yen was broadly steady on Tuesday as markets focused on central bank policy decisions and guidance while the Iran war loomed large.
The Bank of Canada is scheduled to release its policy statement at 9:45 a.m. ET on Wednesday. Macquarie's base case is for a hold with the Overnight rate likely to remain at 2.25%, said its head of economics, David Doyle. Forward guidance should remain "ambiguous" given the elevated uncertainty, stated Doyle.
The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago today released its 2025 Impact Report, highlighting another year of meaningful support for member financial institutions and communities across Illinois and Wisconsin. This press release features multimedia.
What matters in U.S. and global markets today. By Mike Dolan, Editor-at-Large, Finance and Markets. This week's pack of major central bank meetings got off to a hawkish start with the Bank of Japan. Now attention will turn to the other G7 central bank meetings this week - including the Bank of England, European Central Bank and Federal Reserve. I'll get into that and more below.
In general the bond market is volatile, and fixed income securities carry interest rate risk. (As interest rates rise, bond prices usually fall, and vice versa. This effect is usually more pronounced for longer-term securities.) Fixed income securities also carry inflation risk and credit and default risks for both issuers and counterparties. Unlike individual bonds, most bond funds do not have a maturity date, so avoiding losses caused by price volatility by holding them until maturity is not possible.
Lower-quality debt securities generally offer higher yields, but also involve greater risk of default or price changes due to potential changes in the credit quality of the issuer. Any fixed income security sold or redeemed prior to maturity may be subject to loss.
Before investing, consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges, and expenses. Contact Fidelity for a prospectus or, if available, a summary prospectus containing this information. Read it carefully.
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