Fed Chair Powell Voices Inflation Worries

WSJ Minute Briefing

The Wall Street Journal

Business News, News

4.1 • 671 Ratings

🗓️ 18 March 2026

⏱️ 4 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

U.S. stocks close lower after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warns of “energy shock.” Plus: Macy’s shares climb as Bloomingdale’s shows retail strength. Shares of Unilever fall on report of possible food spinoff. Julie Chang hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Nearly home.
0:02.2	Isn't home where we all want to be?
0:04.4	Reba here for Realtor.com, the pro's number one most trusted app.
0:09.1	A dream home isn't a dream home if it comes with a nightmare commute.
0:12.7	That's why realter.com has real commute, so you can search by drive time.
0:17.7	Download the realtor.com app today because you're nearly home. Make it real with
0:23.5	Realtor.com. Pro's number one most trusted app based on August 2025 proprietary survey.
0:33.7	Here's your closing bell brief for Wednesday, March 18th. I'm Julie Chang for the Wall Street Journal.
0:39.9	U.S. stocks fell across the board today after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned of an energy shock.
0:47.0	He also said service inflation remains at frustrating levels, making a rate cut this year seem less likely.
0:53.7	Fed officials voted today to keep interest
0:55.7	rates between 3.5 and 3.3 quarters percent. Treasury yields moved higher as inflation fears grew.
1:02.7	The Dow Jones Industrial average fell 1.7 percent. The NASDAQ lost 1.5 percent. And the S&P 500
1:10.1	dropped 1.4 percent. Powell also suggested he might serve longer than
1:15.2	planned as chair if his successor hasn't yet been confirmed. Brent crude prices jumped 3.8% to over
1:22.5	$107 a barrel after Israel struck an Iranian gas field. Among individual stocks, Macy's shares closed
1:30.3	up over 4% today. The company said its Bloomingdale's brand unexpectedly boosted sales.
1:36.4	Shares of Williams Sonoma closed up more than 1%. The retailer grew its market share despite
1:42.1	reporting lower quarterly profits. Shares of Japanese shipping
1:45.8	company Mitsui OSK lines rallied around 12% after activist investor Elliott Investment Management revealed
1:52.8	a stake in it. Unilever shares fell more than 4% after reports suggested the companies considering
1:58.8	spinning off its food assets, and coherent stock
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The Wall Street Journal, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The Wall Street Journal and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.