Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President Mary Daly said on Wednesday that the central bank does not need to be urgent on rate cuts and more work ahead to achieve 2% inflation and lasting growth.
Chief Powell participates in a moderated discussion at the New York Times DealBook Summit, in New York.
St. Louis Federal Reserve President Alberto Musalem said on Wednesday that it might be possible to pause rate cuts at the upcoming meetings, and added that they are keeping all options for the December meeting.
In line with market expectations, the Federal Reserve lowered its Fed Funds Target Range (FFTR) by 25 basis points at its meeting on Thursday. This decision comes after a 50 basis point cut at the September 18 meeting.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it lowered the policy rate, federal funds rate, by 50 basis points to the range of 4.75%-5% following the September policy meeting. Although the market forecast was for a 25 bps rate cut, there were growing expectations for a 50 bps reduction.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) will announce monetary policy decisions following the June policy meeting and release the revised Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), the so-called dot plot, on Wednesday.
The EUR/USD pair remains depressed during the Asian session on Friday and touches a near three-week low, around the 1.0455 area in the last hour. Moreover, the fundamental backdrop suggests that the path of least resistance for spot prices is to the downside and supports prospects for an extension of the recent downtrend.
GBP/USD stays under bearish pressure and trades below 1.2650 on in the European session on Friday. The data from the UK showed that the Gross Domestic Product contracted by 0.1% on a monthly basis in October and weighed on Pound Sterling.
Equity markets are charging to new record highs, with the S&P 500 up 28% year-to-date and the NASDAQ Composite crossing the key 20,000 mark, up 34% this year. The rally is underpinned by a potent mix of drivers.
Gold price attracts some dip-buying and reverses a part of Thursday's retracement slide. Geopolitical risks, trade war fears and Fed rate cut bets continue to benefit the commodity. Expectations for a less dovish Fed and elevated US bond yields might cap the precious metal.
Bitcoin faces resistance near $101,100, hinting at a potential downturn. At the same time, Ethereum eyes a rally if it can firmly close above $4,000, and Ripple holds support at $1.96, with a breakdown signaling a possible decline.
With a pre-set regularity, a nation's central bank holds a monetary policy meeting where board members take different measures, the most relevant one setting the range of the federal funds rate, which greatly influences the interest rate charge on loans and advances to commercial banks.
In the US, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve (Fed) meets at intervals of five to eight weeks to announce their latest decisions. An interest-rate hike increases borrowing costs throughout the economy. This results in a stronger US Dollar (USD) as it makes the US a more attractive place for international investors. A rate cut, on the other hand, tends to weaken the USD.
If rates remain unchanged, the attention, main news and analysis turn to the tone of the monetary policy statement and the press conference from the Fed’s Chair. Markets analyze whether the tone is hawkish or dovish over future developments of inflation.
The Federal Reserve (Fed) is the central bank of the United States (US) and it has two main targets: to maintain the unemployment rate at its lowest possible levels and to keep inflation around 2%. The Federal Reserve System's structure is composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors and the partially appointed Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC organizes eight scheduled meetings in a year to review economic and financial conditions. It also determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy and assesses the risks to its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth. The FOMC Minutes, which are released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve weeks after the latest meeting, are a guide to the future US interest-rate policy.
Fed official website, on X and Facebook
Jerome Powell
Jerome Powell took office as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in
February 2018, for a four-year term ending in February 2022. His term as a member of the Board of Governors will
expire January 31,
2028. Born in Washington D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1975 and
earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1979. Powell served as an assistant secretary and as
undersecretary of the Treasury
under President George H.W. Bush. He also worked as a lawyer and investment banker in New York City. From 1997
through 2005, Powell was a partner at The Carlyle Group.
Jerome Powell Fed's Profile and Wikipedia
The World Interest Rates Table reflects the current interest rates of the main countries around the world, set by their respective Central Banks. Rates typically reflect the health of individual economies, as in a perfect scenario, Central Banks tend to rise rates when the economy is growing and therefore instigate inflation.
