(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve officials raised interest rates by 75 basis points for the second straight month, delivering the most aggressive tightening in more than a generation to curb surging inflation — but risking a sharp blow to the economy. Policy makers, facing the hottest cost pressures in 40 years, lifted the target for the […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve’s interest-rate hikes are wearing out their welcome in bond markets, with a measure of the yield curve that Chair Jerome Powell has highlighted as a recession indicator sending out a warning message. The difference between rates on where three-month bills are now and where they will be in 18 months […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve will probably have to inflict much more pain on the economy to get inflation under control. Growth is already slowing in response to the Fed’s repeated interest rate increases, with the housing market softening, technology companies curbing hiring and unemployment claims edging up. But with inflation proving persistent at a […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve will need to go on a longer tightening cycle and raise interest rates well into next year to control inflation that Blackstone Group sees as “more deeply entrenched” in the US. “My own view is the Fed funds rate could exceed 4%. I think they could go above 4.5%, maybe […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller backed raising rates by 75 basis points this month after a hot inflation report, prompting investors to pull back bets officials would hike by 100 basis points, though he said he could go bigger if warranted by the data. “With the CPI data in hand, I support another […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Signs of a rapidly deteriorating US economic outlook have spurred bond traders to pencil in a complete policy turnaround by the Federal Reserve in the coming year, with interest-rate cuts in the middle of 2023. Fed Chair Jerome Powell — who is widely expected to keep lifting the central bank’s benchmark rate for […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Respite for the battered US stock market may be just a couple of Federal Reserve policy meetings away. That’s the scenario laid out by strategists including Kristina Hooper of Invesco, who said September is a possible time-frame for the US central bank to pivot to a slightly less aggressive stance on monetary tightening. […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the US economy is in “strong shape” and the central bank can reduce inflation to 2% while maintaining a solid labor market, even though that task has become more challenging in recent months. He also vowed to ensure rapid price increases don’t become entrenched, saying that “we […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Oil steadied in Asia — after plunging almost 7% on Friday — as traders weighed prospects for higher near-term demand against concerns that aggressive US monetary tightening will lead to a recession. West Texas Intermediate traded above $109 a barrel after tumbling by the most since early April last week as escalating worries […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — So far 2022 has been a year where just about everyone on Wall Street got it wrong. As did the Fed and a cadre of global central banks. Back in December, strategists at the world’s top investment firms like JPMorgan Chase & Co. predicted the S&P 500 would gain 5% in 2022. Economists […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said he wants to keep raising interest rates in half-percentage point steps until inflation is easing back toward the US central bank’s goal. “I support tightening policy by another 50 basis points for several meetings,” he said in remarks prepared for delivery on Monday in Frankfurt. “In particular, […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Half-point rate hikes by the Federal Reserve at each of its next two policy meetings are no longer a sure thing for traders, even as policy makers reiterated an aggressive tightening stance. Swap contracts indicated on Wednesday that markets priced less than 100 basis points of combined rate hikes at the June and […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Most Federal Reserve officials agreed at their gathering this month that the central bank needed to tighten in half-point steps over the next couple of meetings, continuing an aggressive set of moves that would leave policy makers with flexibility to shift gears later if needed. “Most participants judged that 50 basis-point increases in […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the central bank should front-load an aggressive series of interest-rate hikes to push rates to 3.5% at year’s end, which if successful would push down inflation and could lead to policy easing in 2023 or 2024. “I have also said we should get […]
Read More(Bloomberg) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said no one should doubt the US central bank’s resolve to curb the highest inflation in decades, including pushing rates into restrictive territory if needed. “What we need to see is inflation coming down in a clear and convincing way and we’re going to keep pushing until we […]
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