{"id":61418,"date":"2026-04-29T15:38:33","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:38:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/powell-defends-fed-independence-as-energy-shocks-drive-brent-crude-to-118\/61418\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T15:38:33","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:38:33","slug":"powell-defends-fed-independence-as-energy-shocks-drive-brent-crude-to-118","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/powell-defends-fed-independence-as-energy-shocks-drive-brent-crude-to-118\/61418\/","title":{"rendered":"Powell Defends Fed Independence as Energy Shocks Drive Brent Crude to $118"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a potential shift to a &quot;neutral bias&quot; in monetary policy as early as the next meeting, following a &quot;vigorous debate&quot; among officials.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Brent Crude futures surged 6.08% to close at $118.03 per barrel as the continued closure of the Strait of Hormuz tightens global energy supplies.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Meta Platforms (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>) will extend the operating life of its non-AI servers from six to seven years to combat a &quot;significant server supply deficit&quot; and memory shortage.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Powell confirmed he will remain on the Fed\u2019s Board of Governors after his term as chair ends to protect the institution&#39;s independence amid ongoing legal and political pressure.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Congressional leaders are racing to reach a deal on FISA Section 702 reauthorization ahead of tomorrow\u2019s critical deadline.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell addressed the media today in what is expected to be his final press conference as chair, emphasizing an <strong>&quot;unshakeable commitment&quot; to returning inflation to 2%<\/strong>. While the Fed held rates steady, Powell acknowledged a growing divide within the committee, noting that the number of officials viewing a <strong>rate hike as equally likely as a cut has risen<\/strong>. He described the current policy stance as being at the <strong>&quot;high end of neutral&quot;<\/strong> and well-positioned to respond to incoming data.<\/p>\n<p>The transition of leadership remains a central focus as Kevin Warsh is expected to take the helm by June. Powell stated he intends to be a <strong>&quot;constructive participant&quot;<\/strong> in the transition but made it clear he would not act as a &quot;shadow chair.&quot; He also revealed that the Fed has been <strong>&quot;forced to turn to the courts&quot;<\/strong> to defend its ability to conduct monetary policy free from political influence, following a series of attacks that he warned could <strong>&quot;batter the institution.&quot;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In the energy sector, <strong>Brent Crude futures spiked to $118.03<\/strong>, a gain of <strong>$6.77 per barrel<\/strong>, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continues to rattle global markets. Powell noted that while the U.S. is less sensitive to oil shocks than Europe or Asia, a prolonged closure would have a <strong>&quot;pronounced&quot; effect on domestic gasoline prices<\/strong>. <em>Market analysts suggest that the escalating tensions in the Persian Gulf are creating a &quot;supply-driven inflationary floor&quot; that may complicate the Fed&#39;s path to its 2% target.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>On the corporate front, Meta Platforms (<a href=\"\/stock\/META\">META<\/a>) is taking drastic measures to manage a <strong>&quot;significant server supply deficit.&quot;<\/strong> According to internal memos reported by the <em>Wall Street Journal<\/em>, the tech giant will stretch the lifespan of its non-AI servers from <strong>six to seven years<\/strong>. This move is a direct response to a <strong>global memory shortage<\/strong> and the &quot;insatiable demand&quot; for data center capacity driven by the AI boom.<\/p>\n<p>In Washington, Senate Majority Leader <strong>John Thune<\/strong> and Speaker <strong>Mike Johnson<\/strong> are scheduled to meet this afternoon to find a path forward for <strong>FISA Section 702<\/strong>. The surveillance authority is set to expire tomorrow, and the two GOP leaders are under intense pressure to resolve internal divisions over warrant requirements. Meanwhile, the <strong>U.S. Justice Department<\/strong> announced the indictment of the Governor of Mexico&#39;s Sinaloa state and nine other officials on <strong>drug trafficking and weapons charges<\/strong>, alleging collusion with cartel leaders for political backing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled a potential shift to a &quot;neutral bias&quot; in monetary policy as early [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[3710,3741,4221,4223,4462,8523,18429],"class_list":["post-61418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-federal-reserve","tag-meta","tag-jerome-powell","tag-inflation","tag-brent-crude","tag-kevin-warsh","tag-fisa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}