RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - U.S Federal Reserve policymakers can wait on any further interest rate hikes until they have a better handle on whether growing risks will undercut an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook, several policymakers said on Wednesday. FILE PHOTO: A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo After months of tumult in the stock market and rising speculation over a coming recession, presidents of four of the 12 Fed regional banks said they wanted greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign any further. Three of the four, Charles Evans of Chicago, Eric Rosengren of Boston, and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s 10-member policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s … [Read more...] about Fed policymakers say can wait on further U.S. rate hikes
Rate hikes
Fed policymakers call for caution on further U.S. rate hikes
RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - Another clutch of U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers said on Wednesday they would be cautious about raising interest rates without getting better a handle on how growing risks to an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook could play out. FILE PHOTO: A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo After months of tumult in the stock market, presidents of four of the 12 Fed regional banks said they wanted greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign any further. Three of the four, Charles Evans of Chicago, Eric Rosengren of Boston, and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s rate increases, begun in December 2015, but the … [Read more...] about Fed policymakers call for caution on further U.S. rate hikes
Oil slump removes urgency from Bank of Canada rate-hike path
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By Theophilos Argitis Bloomberg Wed., Jan. 9, 2019 The Bank of Canada indicated less urgency in its push toward raising interest rates as the economy copes with slumping oil prices and adjusts to previous hikes. The Ottawa-based central bank left its overnight benchmark rate unchanged at 1.75 per cent for a second straight decision Wednesday, saying the nation has dipped into a temporary slowdown that will create a modest amount of excess capacity and curb inflationary pressures. Weaker-than-expected consumption and housing activity also suggests the five hikes since mid-2017 may be having a stronger impact than expected, policy-makers said. Overall, it’s a marking down of Canada’s near-term outlook that reflects weakness in one of the country’s key industries. The Canadian dollar rose, however, after the central bank reiterated it still expects to eventually hike multiple times to a neutral range of somewhere between 2.5 per cent and 3.5 per cent. … [Read more...] about Oil slump removes urgency from Bank of Canada rate-hike path
More Fed officials say caution is needed before more rate hikes
RIVERWOODS, Ill./CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (Reuters) - Another clutch of U.S. Federal Reserve officials said on Wednesday they would be cautious about any further increases in interest rates so that the central bank could assess growing risks to an otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook. FILE PHOTO: A police officer keeps watch in front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington, DC, U.S. on October 12, 2016. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque/File Photo The presidents of three of the 12 Fed regional banks, from Chicago, St. Louis and Atlanta, all pointed to a need for greater clarity on the state of the economy before extending the central bank’s rate hike campaign into a fourth year. Two of the three, Charles Evans of Chicago and James Bullard of St. Louis, are voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee, the bank’s policy-setting panel. Bullard has long been critical of the Fed’s rate increases, begun in December 2015, but the caution from Evans is … [Read more...] about More Fed officials say caution is needed before more rate hikes
Evans still sees U.S. rate hikes but cites risks, says Fed can wait…
FILE PHOTO: Charles Evans, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, poses for a photo in Palm Beach, Florida, U.S. January 17, 2018. REUTERS/Ann Saphir RIVERWOODS, Ill. (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve can wait and use the first half of this year to assess growing risks to the otherwise solid U.S. economic outlook, an influential regional Fed president said on Wednesday, even as he stuck by an expectation to eventually raise interest rates a bit into restrictive territory. Chicago Fed President Charles Evans has been among the most vocal backers of gradually tightening U.S. monetary policy. In his first public comments since November, he nodded to an array of “tough-to-read” factors highlighted by the recent market selloff, but penciled in a forecast for reasonably good U.S. growth and employment in 2019 and beyond. His prepared remarks gave no hard timeline for further rate hikes but they hinted he could agree to stand pat until around mid year to see how … [Read more...] about Evans still sees U.S. rate hikes but cites risks, says Fed can wait…