Federal Reserve minutes from its January meeting have underscored expectations for a quickening pace of interest rate increases to combat inflation levels not seen in four decades.
The minutes, released on Wednesday in the US, come against a backdrop of “markets signalling the Fed’s latency on monetary policy action is a growing concern,” according to Charlie Ripley, senior investment strategist for Allianz Investment Management. “In markets, timing is everything, and the delayed reaction from the Fed has investors convinced that aggressive policy tightening is on the horizon. While not offering much to change that view, the Fed minutes did indicate a faster pace of tightening relative to the last hiking cycle is warranted,” Mr Ripley said.
One Fed official said last week he wanted to see 100 basis points of interest rate increases in the coming months - equivalent to four rate hikes - in comments that increased speculation the US central bank could kick-start the hiking cycle in March with a 50 basis point increase.
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Source: FinancialReview - 🏆 2. / 90 Read more »