Overview

• The Federal Reserve kept rates at 4.25–4.50% for the fourth straight meeting after downgrading its 2025 GDP growth outlook to 1.4%, also projecting two rate cuts this year.
• The Bank of England held its policy rate at 4.25% in a 6–3 vote, with Governor Andrew Bailey flagging energy price pressures and signs of UK labour market cooling.
• Investors tracked the seventh day of Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites and weighed President Trump’s comments that US military involvement remained possible.
• The US dollar has lost roughly 10% versus the euro over six months as gold surged nearly 30% since January on safe-haven flows.
• Paris’s CAC 40 dropped 1.34% Thursday following a 0.36% decline Wednesday, with investors fearing US involvement could push oil prices higher.