The Fed kept its key rate at 5.5%. Jerome Powell said that a rate hike could stifle the country's economy and budget due to rising public debt costs. At the same time, inflationary pressures are still too high to mitigate monetary policy. The US dollar is getting cheaper after the Fed meeting, which did not bring surprises to the market. The Fed's forecasts for 2025 suggest only three rate cuts instead of the previously expected four, which somewhat reduces the prospects for the dollar and highlights uncertainty in the US economic future, including the risk of continued inflation. There are more and more problems with the supply of Russian oil to India. Reliance, India's largest energy company, has stopped accepting Sovcomflot tankers with oil on board due to fears of secondary sanctions. The company requires a change of the carrier. German companies are concerned that the EU is losing its attractiveness for doing business. More than half of the surveyed German entrepreneurs (56%) noted a decrease in the attractiveness of the EU as a business platform over the past 5 years, while only 7% of executives see the situation in a positive light. The main reasons were the growing bureaucracy and trade restrictions. Japan is demonstrating a reduction in trade with Russia. In February, total exports from Japan to Russia decreased by 33.6%, while imports from Russia fell by 10.2%. Nevertheless, there is an increase in certain sectors: LNG supplies from Russia increased by 8%, fish and fish products – by 9%, Japanese motorcycles to Russia – by 13.2%. The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file a new antitrust lawsuit against Apple. This time, the company is accused of restricting access to iPhone hardware features. This case will be the third time in the last 14 years that the agency is suing the tech giant, which may be part of a broader Biden administration campaign against the dominance of large technology companies in the United States.
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