an indication soaring costs for gasoline and other energy products are pinching consumer wallets. In a separate release, the National Association of Purchasing Management-Chicago said its Midwest business gauge eased. "Oil explains both the Chicago PMI and soft consumption," said Peter Kretzmer, senior economist at Bank of America. The Fed is also still wrestling with the "conundrum" of long-term rates, which have stayed low despite increases in short-term rates over the past year. That has kept many borrowing costs, such as mortgage rates, surprisingly low and helped drive up housing prices in many parts of the country to levels some fear represent dangerous asset bubbles but that Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan believes are merely "froth." --More 2338 Local Time 2038 GMT
