currencies

Gold prices rose, recording the highest settlement price in more than a year, after the decision of the Federal Reserve and a number of central banks.

At the settlement of the March 23rd session, gold futures rose by 2.4%, or $46.3, to $1995.9 an ounce, which is the highest settlement price for the most active contract since March 10, 2022.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that the Fed may raise rates further if needed.

He emphasized that inflation remains very high, the labor market continues to recover and unemployment rates are declining.

The Federal Reserve raised the interest rate yesterday by about 25 basis points, and the Bank of England took a similar decision today.

Today, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said that failure to raise the debt ceiling could lead to an economic recession or something worse.

It also stressed its readiness to take additional measures, if necessary, to achieve stability for banks.

In 2022, the market value of Apple jumped at levels of $ 3 trillion, before its decline, but Morgan Stanley believes that the stock is eligible for a rise with a value that exceeds levels of $ 4 trillion.

And the American bank said in a note on Friday, March 3, that the stock is eligible to rise by about 53% from its current levels.

The bank set a target price for Apple’s share at $180, which constitutes an increase of about 23.4% from Thursday’s close, with an opportunity to rise further to $230.

The report highlighted incentives that could push the iPhone maker’s share price to significant gains, noting that investors do not appreciate these factors.

Those catalysts include accelerating services growth, recovery of pent-up demand, new product launches, record profit margins, and the potential launch of the Apple Subscriptions Program.

The bank indicated that the launch of an Apple subscription service related to its devices could open a trillion-dollar market for the company and support the share price to about $230.

As for the challenges facing the company in the short term, they are weak consumer spending trends on electronics, economic challenges, foreign exchange headwinds, and a lack of iPhone production.