Ed Kalecki

Minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee's January 27th and 28th meeting released Wednesday also revealed that a vast majority of participants judged that downside risks to employment had moderated in recent months, while the risk of more persistent inflation remained.

The FOMC voted 10-2 at the meeting to hold the benchmark federal funds rate in a range of 3.5% to 3.75%.

Billionaire retail tycoon Leslie Wexner told a U.S.

House panel Wednesday that he visited disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein's private Caribbean island but said he wasn't aware of Epstein's sex trafficking operation at the time.

Wexner said he visited the island once with his wife and children for a few hours.

while the family was in the area on their boat.

This according to an opening statement Wexner made in a deposition to congressional investigators that was provided to Bloomberg News by his attorney.

The House Oversight Committee has been investigating what role Epstein's broad network of connections may have played in facilitating his enterprise or delaying criminal prosecution.

This is California Democrat Robert Garcia, ranking member of the House Oversight Committee.

And Texas Democrat Jasmine Crockett.

Oil gained as traders weighed whether talks between the U.S.

and Iran will be enough to avert conflict, following a report that American military intervention could come sooner than expected.

Brent crude briefly rose above $70, while West Texas Intermediate rose as much as 4.1% to trade near $65 a barrel after Axios reported that any U.S.

military operation would likely be a weeks-long campaign rather than the pinpoint operation that took place in Venezuela last month.

Israel's government is pushing for a scenario targeting regime change.

Bloomberg National Security Editor Michelle Jamrisko says it's still unclear how this will all end.

You can hear more from Michelle Jamrisco on the Bloomberg Balance of Power podcast.

U.S.

orders for business equipment increased in December by more than projected, suggesting solid capital investment at the end of last year as trade policy uncertainty gradually diminished.

The value of core capital goods orders, a proxy for investment in equipment that excludes commercial aircraft and military hardware, increased 0.6% in December after a revised 0.8% gain a month earlier that was twice as much