US Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole speech on Friday eased fears that the central banker wouldn’t raise interest rates to tackle inflation, as the odds of a September hike jumped.
Though Warsh “was keen not to provide forward guidance… his words smacked of forward guidance,” ING analysts wrote. Warsh noted that inflation has been above the Fed’s 2% target for 65 months, adding that the Fed would have “work to do” if prices keep rising.
The apparent pivot “went a long way towards assuaging doubts,” a Financial Times columnist noted. But Warsh’s “aversion to forward guidance will be harder to maintain with each speech like Friday’s,” Semafor’s DC team wrote, as political pressure to ease borrowing costs mounts ahead of November’s midterm elections.