The Fed vs Inflation

Fed chief Jerome Powell. Andrew Harnik/AP  

The Fed vs Inflation  

Jerome Powell opens for higher rate hikes again Fed chief 

Jerome Powell says during the Senate hearing that the latest data came in stronger than expected. The central bank may thus be forced to raise the interest rate more and at a higher rate than previously estimated.  

Wall Street is clearly falling back on the announcement. Among other market reactions, it can be noted that the krona is weakening against the dollar.  

That the high interest rates are sticking doesn't really come as a surprise. 

- But hearing it directly from Powell is a little different than drawing conclusions from statistics, says LPL Financial's chief strategist Quincy Krosby to Reuters. 

 

The Fed vs Inflation  

Analyst: What says you don't pull 75 points? Fed chief Jerome Powell's warning about monetary policy tightening dashed Wall Street's hopes of taming inflation with more modest measures. That's what Bloomberg writes.  

Linday Rosner, managing director at PGIM, points out that the Fed has only raised interest rates by 25 basis points at one point. 

- If you now return to 50 points, what says you don't go to 75?  

According to Interactive Brokers chief strategist Steve Sosnick, Powell's statement was "completely in line with the data-driven Fed." He points out that the core inflation measures in February came in higher than both the January figures and expectations. 

- If he hadn't been hawkish, we would have been rightly worried, he says.