Morning Business Report: The Federal Reserve pauses interest rate hikes
After 15 months of interest rate hikes, the Federal Reserve took a pause. Inflation has fallen significantly from a peak last summer. Although the interest rate hikes have led to higher credit card rates, they have also slowed inflation down.
Health insurer stocks saw a sharp drop after UnitedHealth reported that its costs were going up. They cited an increase in surgeries among older adults as the cause. Insurers have been benefiting from a delay in non-urgent surgeries, due to the Covid-19 pandemic and hospital staffing shortages. Now, UnitedHealth’s comments show that those gains may be waning.
Stocks ended mixed after the Fed signaled more rate hikes to come.
The DOW lost 232 points, but the NASDAQ gained 53.
Mortgage applications jumped as borrowing rates began to ease. Applications to refinance are still 41% lower than they were a year ago and mortgage rates have been hovering around 7% this year.
The fast casual Mediterranean chain, Cava, is going public today. It will raise $318 million by selling its stock today. Cava hopes to use the money to expand.
