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  • Jul 31, 2024

Nigerians are frustrated by economic hardship but authorities fear planned protests could turn ugly

Frustrated with growing economic hardships, Nigerians are planning nationwide protests this week against the country’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The government of Nigerian President Bola Tinubu says it is determined to prevent such a scenario in a country that has long been a top African oil producer but whose citizens are among the world’s poorest. Nigeria's population of over 210 million people — the continent's largest — is also among the hungriest in the world and its government has struggled to create jobs.

  • Jul 31, 2024

Fed expected to hold rates steady, open door to September cut

The Federal Reserve is expected to leave interest rates unchanged at the end of a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, but also indicate that a reduction in borrowing costs could come as soon as September. Contracts tied to the U.S. central bank's policy rate show investors are convinced a rate cut will happen at the Sept. 17-18 meeting, with the only disagreement over whether the Fed will begin easing policy with a quarter-percentage-point reduction, as most expect, or a more aggressive half-percentage-point cut, according to CME Group's FedWatch tool. The Fed has kept its policy rate in the 5.25%-5.50% range for the past year.

  • Jul 31, 2024

Stock market today: World stocks are higher, while oil prices jump $2 after Hamas leader was killed

Global stocks advanced Wednesday and oil prices jumped more than $2 a barrel after Hamas’s top political leader Ismail Haniyeh died in an air strike. Haniyeh died in a predawn airstrike in the Iranian capital early Wednesday, Iran and the militant group said, blaming Israel for a shock assassination that could escalate conflict in the region, potentially affecting oil supplies. There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has pledged to kill Haniyeh and other Hamas leaders over the group’s Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel in which the Palestinian militant group killed 1,200 people and took some 250 others hostage.

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