Commentators were left guessing how much the Fed will lift rates in March and how many more times it will do so.
In a news conference, he told reporters "the committee is of a mind to raise the federal funds rate at the March meeting, assuming that conditions are appropriate for doing so". The Fed's pandemic-era financial largesse of bond-buying stimulus and record-low interest rates helped the global recovery and fuelled a two-year equity rally. But the age of cheap cash is being brought to an end as the bank embarks on a fight to bring down inflation from a four-decade high.Asia followed the selling with tech again at the forefront of losses, while the dollar extended a rally against most other currencies.
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