Jerome Powell is getting ready to address the press. The Federal Reserve chair will speak at a news conference on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. Eastern in Washington, D.C., at the central bank's headquarters.

The U.S. economy is mostly in good shape but that isn’t saving Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell from a spell of angst.

The central bank is set to hold interest rates steady for its fourth straight meeting, a pause that could be extended through the summer.

Concerns over escalating hostilities in the Middle East stayed front and centre in markets on Wednesday, sending oil prices higher and investors rushing for the safety of U.S. Treasuries and the dollar while dumping stocks.

Tariffs aren’t yet showing up in inflation data, but that doesn’t mean they won’t in the coming months, says Richard Clarida, a former Federal Reserve Vice Chair and now an economic adviser at Pimco