Jerome Powell Says Disinflation Began But Still Long Way To Go

Jerome Powell Speech: US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the FOMC wanted to send the disinflation stage message, although the process is in the early stages. He said the Fed thought about rising rate hikes to keep the inflation on check. When asked if the FOMC would he have raised by 25 basis points if they knew about the data from jobs report, the stance was that the rate hikes were appropriate. Powell said the target of bringing down inflation to 2% will remain, and that 2023 could see significant reduction in inflation.

The markets are showing a positive reaction to the Fed Chair’s comments, with the S&P 500 Index going up by 0.65%. Whereas the Bitcoin price is up by 0.50% in an immediate reaction.

Jerome Powell spoke in an interview with Carlyle Group co-founder David Rubenstein at the Economic Club of Washington DC on Tuesday. In the context of the Federal Reserve’s recent policy decisions on interest rate hikes and its goal of controlling inflation, Powell’s comments were closely looked at by the market. Traders were not only looking for the Fed’s outlook for next few months, they were also weighing in on the unprecedented job market growth as reported by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics last week.

With the total nonfarm payroll employment rising by 517,000 in January, the unemployment rate in the US stood at a low of 3.40%. This is in fact the lowest unemployment rate in the country in around 54 years. In his post FOMC press conference on February 1, the Fed Chair said the committee is committed to bring back inflation to the 2% target.

In the lead up to the Powell speech today, the crypto market showed little signs of volatility as the Bitcoin (BTC) price remained largely unchanged in the last 24 hours. For most part of Tuesday, the BTC price remained fluctuating around the $22,950 level in anticipation of the Fed Chair’s comments.

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