Powell Speech Highlights: Crypto Market Upbeat on Fed Rate Cuts, Ending QT, Weak Jobs Markets

Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s speech was the most-awaited event on Tuesday, October 14. The highlight of the Powell speech was that the Fed chair is leaning toward a more dovish stance, indicating higher chances of more rate cuts ahead amid the weak job market. Crypto market remains upbeat on the development, with Bitcoin price bouncing back from the support at $110,000.

Powell Speech Highlights And What’s Next

On October 14, Fed Chair Jerome Powell spoke at the annual meeting of the National Association for Business Economics, noting that they would be taking a meeting-by-meeting approach for Fed rate cuts ahead. He said that the inflationary conditions and the job market situation haven’t changed much since September last month. Here’s a look at the key Powell speech highlights from yesterday.

• The U.S. central bank officials are split on rate cut decisions due to sticky inflation on one hand and the fast downslide on the other hand.
• Powell also noted that the recent economic activity is stronger than expected, however, the same hasn’t translated into the strength of the jobs market. “You do have a bit of tension between labor market data – we see very low levels of job creation – and yet people are spending,” Powell said. “We are going to have to see how that plays out.”
• However, with the ongoing US government shutdown, the official data remains suspended. But Powell stated that there was enough insight for the upcoming Fed meeting on October 28-29.
• Powell also indicated that the Federal Reserve’s long-running quantitative tightening (QT) program, aimed at reducing the central bank’s balance sheet, may be nearing its conclusion.

Federal Reserve Governor Michelle Bowman believes that the central bank will implement two additional rate cuts this year in 2025. Her comments come as markets anticipate another rate reduction at the October FOMC meeting, with a further cut also seen as likely in December.

Crypto Market Upbeat on Powell Speech

Following the Bitcoin price crash to $110,000, the crypto market continues to stay upbeat, with BTC showing partial recovery over $112,000 levels. Veteran trader Arthur Hayes commented on the development, noting that the quantitative tightening (QT) is behind us, while advising investors to ‘buy everything’.

The Powell speech highlights indicate that the crypto market is showing signs of temporary relief. However, it will be interesting to see how far this can continue moving ahead.