News in brief

Fading risks noted by Fed at meeting

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials were mostly optimistic about the U.S. and global economies last month, though they noted the risk posed by China’s viral outbreak and said they were ready to keep their benchmark interest rate at its current low level in the coming months.

Fed policymakers observed at their Jan. 28-29 meeting that risks to the U.S. economy had faded since their previous meeting in December, according to minutes released Wednesday. The Trump administration had reached a preliminary trade agreement with China, and Congress had approved an updated trade pact with Canada and Mexico.

Still, “a number of downside risks remained prominent,” officials said, including the coronavirus, which “had emerged as a new risk to the global growth outlook.”

Many Fed watchers have interpreted that caution as a signal that the central bank’s next move, whenever it occurs, is more likely to be a rate cut, rather than an increase. Traders are now betting that the chances of a cut by year’s end are at 85%.

The minutes of the Fed’s meeting showed that officials were ready to keep the key rate at a range of 1.5% to 1.75% for the foreseeable future.

— The Associated Press

Solar site in plans for Mississippi land

COLUMBUS, Miss. — A renewable-energy company will build a 200-megawatt solar facility in northeast Mississippi, under a contract with the Tennessee Valley Authority.

TVA awarded the contract to Origis Energy of Florida, the Commercial Dispatch reported.

Johan Vanhee, chief commercial and procurement officer for Origis, met with owners of the proposed site Wednesday near Columbus, Miss. Construction is tentatively set to begin in the second half of 2021. The contract says Origis will begin providing energy to TVA in October 2022.

Vanhee praised the eight landowners, who together have about 4,000 acres where the facility will be built.

The 200-megawatt site will use the energy produced by 650,000 solar panels, providing enough power to serve 45,920 homes.

Vanhee declined to say how much the facility will cost to build.

— The Associated Press

Arkansas Index adds 2.89, ends at 453.99

The Arkansas Index, a price-weighted index that tracks the largest public companies based in the state, closed Wednesday at 453.99, up 2.89.

“The energy and information technology sectors led the S&P 500 index to a record high as China announced measures to assist industries impacted by the coronavirus and investors shrugged off inflationary producer price index data early in the day,” said Leon Lants, managing director at Stephens Inc. in Little Rock.

The index was developed by Bloomberg News and the Democrat-Gazette with a base value of 100 as of Dec. 30, 1997.

Business on 02/20/2020