Raphael Bostic, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta and a member of the Fed’s interest rate policy committee, doesn’t think another hike is needed. But he’s watching how the current high interest rates are working their way through the economy.
Nearly all Federal Reserve policymakers agreed earlier this month to slow the pace of their rate increases to a quarter-point, with only “a few” supporting a larger half-point hike.
Nearly a year into the Fed’s drive to quash inflation by hiking interest rates at a blistering pace, investors still don’t seem to fully believe what the Fed warns is coming next: Higher rates through the end of the year, which could sharply raise unemployment and slow growth.
Jerome Powell delivered a tough message at the start of a news conference Wednesday: Inflation is way too high, and the Federal Reserve is laser-focused on taming it with higher borrowing costs.
Morgan Stanley reported a 74 percent jump in quarterly profit on Wednesday, topping analysts’ estimates as revenue from bond trading nearly doubled following interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve.
