Cocoa bean prices surged to a record high on Wednesday at the New York Exchange, passing $12,000 for the first time ever amid concerns about production in Côte d'Ivoire, the world’s largest producer of chocolate-making beans. 

Cocoa hit successive record highs with the price rising over three folds in 2024 so far.

A production slump in West Africa caused the worst supply shortage on record, forcing the depletion of current inventories. 

Estimates point to a total harvest of 1.9 million tons of cocoa beans in Côte d'Ivoire in the 2024-2025 season according to Bloomberg’s analysts, nearly 10% lower than official government estimates.

On trading, cocoa futures due in March rallied 3.60% to $12190 a ton as of 14:15 GMT.

Ripple prices tumbled on Wednesday as most cryptocurrencies sustained heavy losses following the Federal Reserve’s policy decision today. 

The Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 25 basis points today, the third such rate cut in a row, following similar cuts in September and November. 

Thus interest rates have reached between 4.25% and 4.5% as expected by market analysts.

The Fed stated the US economy kept growing at a steady pace, with the labor market improving and unemployment remaining at low levels. 

The Fed pointed to progress in controlling inflation and bringing it back to 2%, but it said inflation remains “somewhat high”.

The Fed has thus cut interest rates by 100 basis points since the September meeting, at which it cut rates for the first time since 2022.

The Fed at only two interest rate cuts in 2025 amounting to 25 basis points each, with another two in 2026, and a single rate cut in 2027, eventually reaching an eventual neutral rate of 3%.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised its outlook for total GDP growth this year to 2.5%, up 0.5% from September, before slowing down to 1.8% next year. 

The FOMC also reduced its outlook for unemployment to 4.2%, but pushed the inflation outlook higher to 2.4%, and core inflation to 2.8%.

Ripple

Ripple tumbled 9.1% on Coinmarket cap today as of 20:06 GMT to $2.37.

Gold prices fell on Wednesday as the dollar rallied against most major rivals following the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.

The Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 25 basis points today, the third such rate cut in a row, following similar cuts in September and November. 

Thus interest rates have reached between 4.25% and 4.5% as expected by market analysts.

The Fed stated the US economy kept growing at a steady pace, with the labor market improving and unemployment remaining at low levels. 

The Fed pointed to progress in controlling inflation and bringing it back to 2%, but it said inflation remains “somewhat high”.

The Fed has thus cut interest rates by 100 basis points since the September meeting, at which it cut rates for the first time since 2022.

The Fed at only two interest rate cuts in 2025 amounting to 25 basis points each, with another two in 2026, and a single rate cut in 2027, eventually reaching an eventual neutral rate of 3%.

The Federal Open Market Committee raised its outlook for total GDP growth this year to 2.5%, up 0.5% from September, before slowing down to 1.8% next year. 

The FOMC also reduced its outlook for unemployment to 4.2%, but pushed the inflation outlook higher to 2.4%, and core inflation to 2.8%.

Otherwise, the dollar index rose 0.9% as of 19:47 GMT to 107.9, with a session-high at 107.9, and a low at 106.8.

On trading, gold spot prices tumbled 1.3% as of 19:48 GMT to $2625.3 an ounce.

The Federal Reserve decided to cut interest rates by 25 basis points today, the third such rate cut in a row, following similar cuts in September and November. 

Thus interest rates have reached between 4.25% and 4.5% as expected by market analysts.

The Fed has thus cut interest rates by 100 basis points since the September meeting, at which it cut rates for the first time since 2022.