Live Coverage: Fed's Powell may struggle to convey calm amid market turmoil

Yohay Elam FXStreet

Will the Fed signal more or less rate cuts? Higher inflation expectations and dimmer growth prospects compete with each other. All eyes are on Chair Powell.

Join FXStreet Premium to ask our analysts questions live, read actionable insights and get Gold and signal alerts.

Click here to join the live coverage on Discord

Fed may opt for patience amid panic

The Federal Reserve (Fed) is projected to leave interest rates unchanged at its March meeting. However, every word that Chair Jerome Powell says – and every change to the bank's forecasts – are critical for markets.

In the last "dot plot" in December, the bank signaled only two rate cuts are due in 2025, half of what it previously forecasted. That hawkish twist came as the economy looked strong and inflation was still not low enough.

Since then, President Donald Trump entered the White House, announcing tariffs and aiming to do more. That pushed inflation expectations higher while plunging consumer confidence. Markets and the Fed still do not have hard data to show how the economy reacted and may, therefore, wait.

By conveying a message of patience, Powell would soothe markets. A hawkish tone against inflation would support the US Dollar, while going dovish and signaling rate cuts would send Gold further up.

Live financial market coverage

FXStreet covers major economic releases in a live blog format, to provide readers an instant verdict of the data, rapid analysis of key assets, and for Premium members, the abilty to ask our experts questions in real time.

FXStreet Premium

FXStreet Premium provides subscribers access to analysts, exclusive actionable analysis, signals, Ed Ponsi's webinars, trade plans and a bullish/bearish indicator for Gold on critical events. Join FXStreet Premium here.

Premium

You have reached your limit of 3 free articles for this month.

Start your subscription and get access to all our original articles.

Subscribe to Premium Sign In

Author

Yohay Elam

FXStreet

Yohay is in Forex since 2008 when he founded Forex Crunch, a blog crafted in his free time that turned into a fully-fledged currency website later sold to Finixio.

GBP/USD clings to gains near 1.3400

GBP/USD retreats after reaching a three-week high above 1.3430, challenging the 1.3400 yardstick on Thursday. Although easing political uncertainty in the UK helps the quid limit its downside, escalating tensions in the Middle East support the Greenback, keeping Cable under scrutiny.

EUR/USD faces resistance around 1.1450

EUR/USD keeps the bid bias although it seems to have met a tough hurdle around 1.1450 on Thursday. The pair’s advance follows the bearish tone in the US Dollar despite escalating tensions in the Middle East and a broad-based cautious stance from market participants.

Gold flirts with two-day highs, approaches $4,130

Gold stages a modest rebound on Thursday, setting aside a three-day losing streak and managing to surpass the $4,100 mark per troy ounce. However, steady geopolitical tensions have revived concerns over persistently high global inflation, reinforcing expectations of higher rates across the board and somewhat curtailing the yellow metal’s upside potential.

Bitcoin stalls as mixed ETF flows, renewed US-Iran tensions cap upside

Bitcoin trades at $63,000 on Thursday, recovering slightly after facing rejection near $64,000. Renewed geopolitical uncertainty has dampened risk appetite, limiting BTC upside potential.

Japan may be changing its Yen strategy, but markets don’t look scared

Japan may be changing its intervention playbook, but that might not be enough to rescue the battered Yen. With USD/JPY hovering at four-decade highs, the currency’s weakness is being driven less by speculative pressure and more by a powerful structural force: the wide US-Japan rate gap.

Bye, forward guidance: How to trade when central banks choose silence

Central banks have spent years telling markets what might come next. Now, traders face the possibility that they say a lot less. From the Federal Reserve to the European Central Bank and the Bank of England, policymakers are pushing back against forward guidance.