Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Friday pushed back on market expectations for aggressive interest rate cuts ahead, calling it too early to declare victory over inflation. Despite a string of positive indicators recently regarding prices, the central bank leader said the Federal Open Market Committee plans on “keeping policy restrictive” until policymakers are convinced that inflation is heading solidly back to 2%. “It would be premature to conclude with confidence that we have achieved a sufficiently restrictive stance, or to speculate on when policy might ease,” Powell said in prepared remarks for an audience at Spelman College in Atlanta. “We are prepared to tighten policy further if it becomes appropriate to do so.” Expectations that the Fed is done raising rates and will move to an easing posture in 2024 have helped underpin a strong Wall Street rally that has sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average up more than 8% over the past month to a new 2023 high.
Source: CNBC – Bonds
