Timiraos on FOMC - rate cuts postponed "for the foreseeable future", Powell the main event
Nick Timiraos' piece was in Tuesday morning's Wall Street Journal, so this is not fresh news. And its not going to surprise anyone either.In brief:Fed officials will hold their benchmark federal-funds rate steadyFirmer-than-anticipated inflation in the first three months of the year has likely postponed rate cuts for the foreseeable future. officials are likely to emphasize that they are prepared to hold rates steady ... for longer than they previously anticipated With no new economic projections at this meeting and minimal changes expected to the Fed’s policy statement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference will be the main event At the press conference:Powell is likely to repeat a message he delivered two weeks ago, when he said recent data had “clearly not given us greater confidence” that inflation would continue declining to 2% “and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that.”The focus at this meeting will be how Powell characterizes the interest-rate outlook. The Journal is gated but here is the link if you can access it:a hawkish pivot, suggesting an increase in rates is more likely than a cut, appears unlikely, for nowThe Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s policy decision will be released on Wednesday May 1 at 2 pm US EDT (1800 GMT) with Fed Chair Jerome Powell following up with his press conference at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT).Earlier previews:Citi says traders expect the biggest Fed-day move in the S&P 500 since 2023Fed rate cuts in 2024? BlackRock's CIO predicts more monetary easing aheadBoA on the FOMC meeting - more clarity on inflation is needed, in "want and see" modeFOMC meet this week: "the most interesting news about this meeting will come on 22 May""Fed has simply run into a brick wall"expect a hawkish Fed and PowellFed cuts are not imminent This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.
Nick Timiraos' piece was in Tuesday morning's Wall Street Journal, so this is not fresh news. And its not going to surprise anyone either.
In brief:
- Fed officials will hold their benchmark federal-funds rate steady
- Firmer-than-anticipated inflation in the first three months of the year has likely postponed rate cuts for the foreseeable future.
- officials are likely to emphasize that they are prepared to hold rates steady ... for longer than they previously anticipated
- With no new economic projections at this meeting and minimal changes expected to the Fed’s policy statement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference will be the main event
At the press conference:
Powell is likely to repeat a message he delivered two weeks ago, when he said recent data had “clearly not given us greater confidence” that inflation would continue declining to 2% “and instead indicate that it’s likely to take longer than expected to achieve that.”
The focus at this meeting will be how Powell characterizes the interest-rate outlook.
The Journal is gated but here is the link if you can access it:
The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s policy decision will be released on Wednesday May 1 at 2 pm US EDT (1800 GMT) with Fed Chair Jerome Powell following up with his press conference at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT).
Earlier previews:
This article was written by Eamonn Sheridan at www.forexlive.com.