Currency traders watch monitors near the screens showing the Korea Composite Stock Price Index , top right, at the foreign exchange dealing room of the KEB Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Aug. 28, 2023. Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 added 1.7% to 32,151.72. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.6% to 7,155.40, after data on Australian retail sales showed they rose a higher than expected 0.5%.
Wall Street recorded its first winning week since July, with the S&P 500 climbing 29.40, or 0.7%, to 4,405.71. The index had flipped between small gains and losses a few times through the day. Some had hoped Powell would say the Fed was done with its hikes to interest rates. Higher rates work to control inflation, but at the cost of slowing the economy and hurting prices for investments.
The much higher rates have already sent the manufacturing industry into contraction and helped cause three high-profile U.S. bank failures. They've also helped to slow inflation, but a string of stronger-than-expected reports on the economy has raised worries that upward pressure remains. That could force the Fed to keep rates higher for longer.
The two-year Treasury, which more closely tracks expectations for the Fed, rose to 5.07% Friday from 5.02% late Thursday. Traders see better than a 50% chance the Fed will hike its main interest rate again this year. That's up sharply from just a week ago, according to data from CME Group.
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