U.S. gold futures rose above $1,120 an ounce on Tuesday, gaining 1.5 percent, as an oil rally prompted commodity funds to buy ahead of an interest rate decision and policy statement by the Federal Reserve.
The Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates near zero on Tuesday and renew its pledge to keep rates very low for a long time, but it could note a brightening economic picture and hint at being closer to dropping the vow.
World stocks climbed on Tuesday while the dollar was corralled as investors bet the U.S. central bank will repeat its vow of keeping interest rates low for an extended period after its monthly meeting.
The Federal Reserve would gain new powers over non-bank financial firms and keep much of its authority over banks under a new bill on financial regulatory reform unveiled on Monday by the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, Christopher Dodd.
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd on Monday unveiled a bill to revamp U.S. financial rules that would place a consumer protection agency within the Federal Reserve and give the central bank new powers over non-bank financial firms.
The Federal Reserve would win sweeping new powers over nonbank financial firms and keep much of its authority over banks, under revised legislation to be unveiled on Monday by the chief architect of financial reform in the Senate.
San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank President Janet Yellen is a leading contender to be nominated by President Barack Obama as vice chair of the central bank, a senior administration official said on Friday.
Lingering U.S. labor market weakness and nagging doubts about the solidity of the economic recovery are expected to keep the Federal Reserve committed to holding borrowing costs very low for a long time at a monetary policy meeting next week.
Weak U.S. labor markets are likely to justify easy money policies for quite a while longer, a top Federal Reserve official said on Tuesday.
The U.S. Federal Reserve is taking an additional measure to lay the groundwork to drain excess bank reserves, as it seeks to remove some of the $1 trillion in cash it injected during the global credit crisis.
The Federal Reserve could retain oversight of large bank holding companies under a scaled-back regulatory reform plan being considered by key senators, but important questions remained unanswered, lobbyists said on Sunday.
Total U.S. consumer credit rose $4.96 billion in January, its first rise in a year and the largest for any month since mid-2008, Federal Reserve data showed on Friday.
A second senior Federal Reserve official on Thursday joined the ranks of those doubting whether the Fed should continue to commit to hold rates exceptionally low for an extended period, a sign pressures are building to drop the wording.
With the economy's recovery likely to be slow and hampered by tight credit and a cautious consumer, the Federal Reserve is still far from needing to tighten its extraordinarily loose monetary policy, Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans said Thursday.
The Federal Reserve should shift quantitative easing policies based on the U.S. economy's evolution, in the same way those changes guide interest rate policy, a top Fed official said on Thursday.
The U.S. economy will recover slowly and the unemployment rate will take some time to come down, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Dennis Lockhart said on Wednesday.
Economic activity strengthened modestly across most of the 12 Federal Reserve districts during February and likely would have done better if not for heavy snowstorms that battered many areas.
Low U.S. interest rates were not the sole cause of the housing bubble, a top Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday, adding that ultra-low interest rates are appropriate now.
Banks that are seen as too large to fail should be broken up in order to make the financial system more stable, Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday.
Top Federal Reserve officials on Tuesday offered differing messages about the direction of monetary policy, with one flagging the dangers of keeping interest rates too low for too long and another saying the economy was too weak to raise them.
The White House has contacted Massachusetts Institute of Technology Professor Peter Diamond about joining the Federal Reserve's board of governors, Bloomberg reported, citing two people familiar with the discussion.
The U.S. Federal Reserve must be especially careful when the time comes to raise interest rates because of its bloated balance sheet, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota said on Tuesday.
