‘We
don’t
have
a
growth
mandate,’
Powell
says
The
Federal
Reserve
isn’t
concerned
that
the
economy
is
too
strong
right
now,
Chair
Jerome
Powell
told
CNBC’s
Jeff
Cox.
“We’ve
had
inflation
come
down
without
a
slow
economy
and
without
important
increases
in
unemployment.
There’s
no
reason
why
we
should
want
to
get
in
the
way
of
that
process
if
it
is
going
to
continue,”
he
said.
“Continued
declines
in
inflation
are
really
the
main
thing
we
are
looking
at.
Of
course,
we
want
the
labor
market
to
remain
strong,
too.
We
don’t
have
a
growth
mandate.
We
have
a
maximum
employment
mandate
and
a
price
stability
mandate.”
—
Michelle
Fox
Fed
is
looking
for
signs
inflation
is
on
a
‘sustainable
path
down’
Upcoming
inflation
data
will
dictate
how
soon
the
Federal
Reserve
moves
ahead
on
rate
cuts,
said
Fed
Chair
Jerome
Powell.
Strong
inflation
data
may
suggest
that
cuts
need
to
come
at
a
slower
pace,
while
good
inflation
numbers
signal
the
need
for
faster
cuts,
he
said.
“We’re
trying
to
get
comfortable
and
gain
confidence
that
inflation
is
on
a
sustainable
path
down
toward
2%,”
Powell
said.
—
Samantha
Subin
Higher
prices
have
to
be
some
part
of
low
consumer
confidence,
says
Powell
Consumer
confidence
has
only
begun
to
improve
despite
ongoing
low
unemployment.
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
acknowledged
that
consumer
prices
may
be
at
least
partly
behind
that
sentiment.
“It’s
been
interesting
that
confidence
surveys
have
been
weak
at
a
time
when
unemployment
has
been
historically
low
for
a
couple
of
years.
…
We
don’t
pretend
to
have
perfect
wisdom
on
this,
but
one
obvious
answer
is
that
prices
went
up
more
than
2%
a
year
for
a
couple
of
years,”
said
Powell.
Even
as
inflation
is
coming
down,
the
prices
consumers
pay
remain
elevated,
he
noted.
“That
has
to
be
some
part
of
why
people
are
unhappy,
and
they’re
right
to
be
unhappy,”
Powell
said.
—
Hakyung
Kim
Powell
says
a
rate
cut
at
the
March
meeting
may
be
‘unlikely’
Investors
have
been
anticipating
a
potential
rate
cut
or
the
beginning
of
a
rate-cutting
cycle
at
the
March
meeting,
but
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Powell
expressed
skepticism
about
that
timing
Wednesday
afternoon.
“Based
on
the
meeting
today,
I
would
tell
you
that
I
don’t
think
it’s
likely
that
the
committee
will
reach
a
level
of
confidence
by
the
time
of
the
March
meeting
to
identify
March
is
the
time
to
do
that,”
he
said.
“But
that’s
to
be
seen.”
“[March
is]
probably
not
the
most
likely
case
or
what
we
would
call
the
base
case,”
he
added.
—
Tanaya
Macheel
Powell
says
Fed
isn’t
‘rushing’
The
Federal
Reserve
is
leaving
its
options
open
as
it
assesses
the
path
ahead
for
interest
rates
and
when
to
implement
cuts,
said
Chair
Jerome
Powell.
“Of
course,
if
labor,
if
inflation
were
to
surprise
by
moving
back
up,
we
would
have
to
respond
to
that
and
that
would
be
a
surprise
at
this
point,”
he
said.
“But
I
have
to
tell
you
that’s
why
we
keep
our
options
open
here
and
why
we’re
not
rushing.”
While
markets
have
digested
six
months
of
good
data,
uncertainties
linger
and
risks
could
reaccelerate
inflation,
he
added.
—
Samantha
Subin
Supply
chain
and
labor
market
‘healing’
have
helped
bring
inflation
down,
says
Powell
In
addition
to
tighter
monetary
policy,
the
current
disinflationary
process
has
also
come
through
“the
healing
of
supply
chains
and
the
labor
market,”
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
said
at
a
post-meeting
press
conference.
The
latter
two
factors
“[are]
really
different
from
other
cycles,”
creating
the
“mixture”
that
has
enabled
inflation
to
fall
thus
far,
Powell
added.
—
Hakyung
Kim
Powell:
There’s
a
‘ways
to
go’
before
saying
soft
landing
has
been
achieved
Fed
Chair
Powell
isn’t
ready
to
declare
a
“soft
landing.”
The
jargon
describes
a
scenario
where
the
economy
is
cooled
without
being
tipped
into
a
recession.
“Certainly,
I’m
encouraged
and
we’re
encouraged
by
the
progress,”
Powell
said.
But
“we’re
not
declaring
victory
at
all
at
this
point.
We
think
we
have
a
ways
to
go.”
—
Alex
Harring
FOMC
isn’t
‘at
that
stage’
to
begin
cutting
rates,
Powell
says
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
said
on
Wednesday
afternoon
that
the
FOMC
has
not
yet
begun
to
consider
cutting
rates.
“We’re
not
really
at
that
stage,
there
was
no
proposal
to
cut
rates.
…
We
weren’t
actively
considering
moving
the
federal
funds
rate
down,”
he
said.
—
Lisa
Kailai
Han
Fed
may
need
more
signs
of
easing
inflation
before
it
cuts
rates,
Powell
says
The
central
bank
may
need
more
signs
that
inflation
is
easing
before
it
begins
“dialing
back
the
restrictive
level”
and
cutting
rates,
said
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell.
“The
median
participant
wrote
down
three
rate
cuts
this
year,
but
I
think
to
get
to
that
place
where
we
feel
comfortable
starting
the
process,
we
need
some
confirmation
that
inflation
is
in
fact
coming
down
sustainably
to
2%,”
he
said
during
a
press
conference
Wednesday.
—
Samantha
Subin
Fed
needs
to
see
‘more
evidence’
that
falling
inflation
is
sustainable,
says
Powell
While
the
six
months
of
declines
in
inflation
have
been
“a
good
story,”
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
said
he
is
looking
for
more
broad-based
evidence
that
prices
are
falling.
When
evaluating
the
inflation
numbers,
much
of
it
is
stemming
from
goods
inflation,
meaning
the
“services
sector
would
have
to
contribute
more”
as
inflation
flattens
out,
said
Powell.
“In
other
words,
what
we
care
about
is
the
aggregate
number
—
not
so
much
the
composition,
but
we
just
need
to
see
more.
That’s
where
we
are,”
Powell
said.
“As
a
committee,
we
need
to
see
more
evidence
that
confirms
what
we
think
we’re
seeing,
and
gives
us
confidence
that
we’re
on
a
sustainable
path
[to]
2%
inflation,”
he
continued.
—
Hakyung
Kim
The
Fed
is
looking
for
‘more
good
data,’
not
‘better
data,’
Powell
says
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
wants
more
evidence
inflation
is
heading
toward
its
2%
target,
on
top
of
a
strong
labor
market,
even
after
a
raft
of
encouraging
reports
in
recent
months.
“We
want
to
see
more
good
data,”
Powell
said
in
his
post-meeting
press
conference.
“It’s
not
that
we’re
looking
for
better
data,
we’re
looking
for
a
continuation
of
the
good
data
we’ve
been
seeing.”
“It
gives
us
confidence
that
we’re
on
a
path,
a
sustainable
path,
to
2%
inflation,”
Powell
added.
—
Sarah
Min
Policy
rate
is
at
peak
for
tightening
cycle,
Powell
says
Powell
said
during
his
prepared
remarks
that
the
Fed
has
likely
completed
all
the
interest
rate
hikes
it
needs
to
in
this
economic
tightening
cycle.
But
he
said
there
may
not
be
cuts
on
the
immediate
horizon.
“We
believe
that
our
policy
rate
is
likely
at
its
peak
for
this
tightening
cycle
and
that
if
the
economy
evolves
broadly
as
expected,
it
will
likely
be
appropriate
to
begin
dialing
back
policy
restraint
at
some
point
this
year,”
Powell
said
during
the
conference.
“But
the
economy
has
surprised
forecasters
in
many
ways
since
the
pandemic
and
ongoing
progress
toward
our
2%
inflation
objective
is
not
assured,”
he
added.
“The
economic
outlook
is
uncertain,
and
we
remain
highly
attentive
to
inflation
risks.
We
are
prepared
to
maintain
the
current
target
range
for
the
federal
funds
rate
for
longer
if
appropriate.”
—
Alex
Harring
Fed
is
looking
for
‘continuing
evidence’
on
inflation,
Powell
says
Fed
Chair
Jerome
Powell
acknowledged
that
inflation
has
been
falling
in
recent
months,
though
not
enough
to
convince
the
central
bank
that
it
can
ease
back
on
rates.
“The
lower
inflation
readings
over
the
second
half
of
last
year
are
welcome,
but
we
will
need
to
see
continuing
evidence
to
build
confidence
that
inflation
is
moving
down
sustainably
to
our
goal,”
Powell
said.
—
Jesse
Pound
FOMC
seems
‘satisfied’
at
the
moment,
says
former
Atlanta
Fed
president
The
Federal
Reserve’s
January
statement,
released
earlier
this
afternoon,
indicates
that
the
Federal
Open
Market
Committee
seems
to
be
“reasonably
satisfied
with
financial
conditions
at
the
moment,”
according
to
Dennis
Lockhart,
the
former
president
of
the
Atlanta
Federal
Reserve.
“The
committee
probably
doesn’t
really
believe
or
have
a
lot
of
confidence
they
can
manipulate
market
interest
rates
very
much,
so
they
just
want
to
set
the
policy
and
let
the
markets
react.
I
think
their
view
is
that
at
the
moment,
they’re
clearly
still
restrictive,
but
at
a
satisfactory
level,”
he
told
CNBC’s
“Power
Lunch”
on
Wednesday.
Lockhart
added
that
the
FOMC
seems
to
have
added
additional
language
indicating
it
is
not
ready
to
lower
interest
rates
in
an
effort
to
“reduce
the
frenzy
of
an
anticipation
around
a
March
move.”
—
Lisa
Kailai
Han
Powell
says
‘the
path
forward
is
still
uncertain’
Federal
Reserve
Chair
Jerome
Powell
said
the
U.S.
economy
has
made
some
good
progress,
with
inflation
easing
from
its
highs
without
signs
of
increased
unemployment.
Still,
there
is
work
to
be
done,
he
said.
“Inflation
is
still
too
high,
ongoing
progress
in
bringing
it
down
is
not
assured
and
the
path
forward
is
uncertain,”
Powell
said.
“I
want
to
assure
the
American
people
we
are
fully
committed
to
returning
inflation
to
our
2%
goal.”
—
Michelle
Fox
Still
unclear
of
a
March
cut,
BMO’s
Lyngen
says
It’s
still
unclear
if
the
Federal
Reserve
will
move
to
cut
rates
in
March
after
Wednesday’s
statement,
according
to
Ian
Lyngen,
head
of
U.S.
rates
at
BMO.
“While
this
doesn’t
take
a
March
cut
off
the
table
completely,
it
also
isn’t
an
endorsement
of
a
move
on
March
20th,”
he
said
in
a
note.
The
strategist
noted
that
the
statement
also
omitted
the
reference
to
tighter
financial
and
credit
conditions,
which
is
a
nod
to
the
fact
financial
conditions
have
eased
notably.
—
Yun
Li
JPMorgan’s
David
Kelly
sees
rate
cuts
starting
in
June
The
Federal
Reserve
has
set
the
table
for
rate
cuts
starting
in
June,
according
to
David
Kelly,
chief
global
strategist
for
JPMorgan
Asset
Management.
“It
sounds
to
me
like
June,
September,
December
is
what
they
are
thinking
—
three
rate
cuts
this
year
—
provided
the
economy
keeps
growing,”
he
said
in
an
interview
with
CNBC
following
the
release
of
the
Federal
Reserve’s
statement.
“There
doesn’t
seem
to
be,
at
the
moment,
a
sign
that
the
U.S.
economy
is
going
to
keel
over
and
fall
into
recession
any
time
soon,”
he
added.
“Until
they
see
greater
damage
—
or
potential
damage
—
to
the
economy
given
to
the
huge
runup
in
the
markets
we’ve
seen,
they
just
see
the
balance
of
risk
more
being
on
the
side
of
inflation
being
sticky
than
the
economy
falling
into
recession.”
—
Michelle
Fox
See
what
changed
in
the
latest
Fed
statement
There
are
lots
of
changes
when
comparing
Wednesday’s
Federal
Open
Market
Committee
statement with
the
one
issued
after the
previous
policymaking
meeting
in
December.
Click
here
to
see
all
the
differences
and
similarities.
—
Alex
Harring
Federal
Reserve
signals
it’s
not
yet
prepared
to
reduce
rates
Central
bank
policymakers
said
they
aren’t
yet
ready
to
start
cutting
rates,
according
to
their
meeting
statement.
“The
Committee
does
not
expect
it
will
be
appropriate
to
reduce
the
target
range
until
it
has
gained
greater
confidence
that
inflation
is
moving
sustainably
toward
2
percent,”
the
statement
said.
The
news
chilled
investors,
and
stocks
slipped
slightly.
The
S&P
500
lost
0.9%,
and
the
Nasdaq
Composite
was
off
1.4%.
The
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
ticked
down
0.1%.
Read
more
about
the
Fed’s
rate
decision
here.
—
Darla
Mercado
Federal
Reserve
leaves
rates
unchanged
The
Federal
Reserve
has
left
interest
rates
unchanged
in
January.
It’s
the
fourth
consecutive
time
that
the
central
bank
has
decided
to
keep
steady
on
rate
policy.
The
fed
funds
rate
remains
at
a
range
of
5.25%
to
5.5%.
—
Darla
Mercado
Where
the
markets
stand
before
the
Fed’s
rate
decision
The
S&P
500
was
down
about
0.7%,
while
the
Dow
Jones
Industrial
Average
fluctuated
near
the
flatline,
up
about
17
points.
The
Nasdaq
Composite
was
the
underperformer
of
the
three
major
averages,
down
1.2%.
The
10-year
Treasury
yield
traded
at
3.967%,
down
9
basis
points,
while
the
rate
on
the
2-year
note
was
4.248%,
down
11
basis
points.
—
Darla
Mercado
Markets
should
have
tamer
expectations
for
rate
cuts,
BlackRock’s
Gargi
Chaudhuri
says
Strong
economic
data
and
a
resilient
labor
market
will
allow
the
Federal
Reserve
to
proceed
with
caution
on
rate
cuts,
says
Gargi
Chaudhuri,
head
of
iShares
Investment
Strategy,
Americas
at
BlackRock.
She
is
calling
for
four
rate
cuts
this
year,
while
the
market
is
pricing
for
nearly
six.
“Markets
rallied
after
a
surprisingly
dovish
December
FOMC
meeting,
but
stronger-than-expected
growth
data
since
then
creates
little
urgency
for
the
Fed
to
begin
cutting
in
March,”
Chaudhuri
said.
Nevertheless,
investors
should
still
keep
an
ear
out
for
other
signs
of
policy
shifts
from
the
Fed
—
even
if
they
don’t
rise
to
the
level
of
cutting
rates.
“While
we
expect
Fed
Chair
Powell
to
push
back
on
expectations
for
a
March
cut,
we
expect
the
Fed
could
use
this
week’s
meeting
to
advance
plans
to
end
Quantitative
Tightening
as
the
Fed
appears
to
be
considering
tapering
its
balance
sheet
run-off,”
she
added.
—
Darla
Mercado
Wednesday’s
main
event
will
be
the
Federal
Reserve’s
statement
Markets
are
all
but
certain
that
the
Federal
Reserve
will
stand
pat
on
interest
rates
Wednesday
afternoon.
This
time,
the
real
star
of
the
show
will
be
the
central
bank’s
post-meeting
statement,
which
investors
will
pore
over
for
clues
on
the
next
direction
for
rate
policy.
They’re
also
focused
on
a
key
phrase
and
whether
policymakers
drop
it:
“In
determining
the
extent
of
any
additional
policy
firming
that
may
be
appropriate
to
return
inflation
to
2
percent
over
time.”
If
the
Fed
leaves
that
clause
in
the
text,
it
will
suggest
that
policymakers
are
grappling
with
uncertainty.
However,
if
they
drop
it
this
time,
it
could
signal
a
path
forward
toward
potential
rate
cuts.
Read
more
about
what
to
look
for
in
the
Fed’s
statement
here.
—
Darla
Mercado,
Jeff
Cox
