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U.S. inflation declined last month as the cost of gas, airline fares, and hotel rooms fell, a sign that price growth was cooling even as President Donald Trump ramped up his tariff threats. Consumer prices rose just 2.4% in March from a year earlier, the Labor Department said Thursday, down from 2.8% in February. Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core prices rose 2.8% compared with a year ago, down from 3.1% in February.

(Reuters) -U.S. shale firm Occidental Petroleum said on Wednesday the prices it received for oil and gas production during the first quarter were higher than in the preceding three months. Benchmark Brent crude prices averaged $74.98 a barrel during the first quarter, up 1.3% from the prior quarter, while U.S. natural gas prices jumped 30%, helped by higher demand from a cold winter in the country. Last week, industry bellwether Exxon Mobil also signaled higher oil and gas prices and stronger refining margins would help lift its earnings by roughly $900 million.

In March, the U.S. Treasury Department gave U.S. oil producer Chevron and other foreign partners and customers of PDVSA until May 27 to wind-down operations and cease oil exports from Venezuela. Days later, Washington imposed tariffs on buyers of Venezuela's oil and gas.

(Reuters) -Federal Reserve policymakers worry U.S. President Donald Trump's trade policy could deal a blow to economic growth, but are signaling they will not be quick to ride to the rescue with interest rate cuts because they expect higher tariffs to boost inflation. The minutes of the U.S. central bank's mid-March meeting, released on Wednesday, showed that Fed officials already felt they were operating in a thickening cloud of uncertainty that had the potential to slow consumer spending and business investment and also called for a cautious approach on rate-setting. That was before Trump's April 2 announcement of sweeping tariffs triggered a global stock market rout on fears of recession and a sharp rise in Treasury yields that raised alarm bells about potential financial market instability.

(Bloomberg) -- Oil prices surged for the first time since US President Donald Trump launched a trade war against most of America’s trading partners as some countries won a brief reprieve on Wednesday. Global benchmark Brent crude advanced above $65 a barrel after plunging for four sessions and slipping below $60 for the first time since 2021. West Texas Intermediate climbed to above $61. Trump announced a 90-day pause on higher reciprocal tariffs that hit dozens of trade partners after midnight.

Oil retraced some of its recent losses in a stunning market rally after President Trump announced a 90-day pause on tariffs against non-retaliatory nations.

The prospect of high inflation stemming from widespread tariffs along with weaker hiring could put the Federal Reserve in a difficult spot, Fed policymakers said in minutes from last month's meeting. The minutes, released Wednesday, said that the Fed could keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged if inflation remained stubbornly elevated. The minutes were for the Fed's March 18-19 meeting.