The world’s top central banks dominate the agenda next week with indications abounding that the aggressive pace of rate hikes might slow, but not yet fade away given price pressures.
Over to the Fed, where Chair Jerome Powell will hold his last news conference of the year after recent comments that it was time to slow the pace of coming rate rises. Traders are pricing in a 50-basis point hike - a step down from recent three-quarter percentage point increases. The focus may instead turn to signals for how high the Fed will ultimately raise rates next year.Signage is seen outside the European Central Bank building, in Frankfurt, Germany, July 21.
It’s the same story elsewhere, with Switzerland and Norway also expected to jack up borrowing costs again. The pace of aggressive rate hikes from big central banks is slowing but the fight against inflation is not over yet.HANNAH MCKAY/Reuters Still, the BoE is likely to resist ending monetary tightening just yet with inflation still well above its 2% target. Swaps markets imply UK interest rates will hit 4.6% by next September and will end 2023 at 4.5%.People walk past a screen displaying the Hang Seng stock index at Central district, in Hong Kong, China Oct. 25.After three years of suffocating coronavirus curbs, China can finally breath a little easier.