US Fed’s Jerome Powell At Jackson Hole: Prepared For More Rate Hikes

US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said softer labor markets are required to lower the inflation. He warned that the US central bank is prepared to raise interest rates further if they feel it to be appropriate.

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Powell Speech Highlights Need To Restrict Monetary Policy

Powell revealed that the Fed staff intends to hold the interest rates at restrictive level until they are confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards the 2% target. He made the remarks at the Economic Policy Symposium also popularly called the Jackson Hole meeting hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Prior to the speech, traders were anticipating the Fed Chair’s comments on the long term economic scenario amid the ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty.

The Fed Chair explained that the central bank committee would proceed carefully on whether to hike the rates again. Currently, the target rate stands at 525 to 550 bps, while the next Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is scheduled for September 20, 2023. The CME FedWatch Tool currently suggests trader confidence of 78% on a rate hike pause in the upcoming meeting. Since the last year’s Jackson Hole meeting, the interest rates were hiked by a daunting 300 basis points.

Powell remarked that there needs to be some more progress on the non-housing services inflation, reiterating that the Fed will not move away from its inflation target. He stressed on the central bank’s priority to maintain price stability in the economy.

BTC Price Reacts ..

In the initial response to the speech, the Bitcoin price dropped slightly while the S&P 500 Index also saw a slight dip, before both of them recovering significantly. The Nasdaq Composite Index rose by 0.6%, whereas the Dow Jones Industrial Average showed a 0.3% rise.

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