Home Fed Yellen’s Testimony: No Surprise But Market More ‘Open
Opinions

Fed Yellen’s Testimony: No Surprise But Market More ‘Open

Fed Chair  Janet Yellen was quite upbeat about the economy and the path of rate hikes. What does it mean?

Here is their view, courtesy of eFXnews:

Yellen’s testimony comes after  a meeting at which the FOMC chose to stand pat, so  her attempt to walk down the middle of the road should come as no surprise.

There’s a nod to further tightening ahead and the risks of waiting too long, and there is a reference to the need at upcoming meetings to evaluate if the economy is evolving in a way that makes further hikes appropriate. Note the use of the plural on “meetings”, so there was no specific allusion to a March hike in the statement, and Yellen also emphasized that hikes will be “gradual”  .

The Chair tread carefully when it came to fiscal policy, citing the benefits of measures that would improve productivity but also the need to put budgets on a sustainable path, and saying it will only be one of many factors that the Fed will be responding to.

Nothing really hawkish in this, but markets have been pricing in very low odds of a March hike, and might at least have a more open mind on that until we see the next payrolls report.

For lots  more FX trades from major banks, sign up to eFXplus

By signing up to eFXplus via the link above, you are directly supporting  Forex Crunch.

Yohay Elam

Yohay Elam

Yohay Elam: Founder, Writer and Editor I have been into forex trading for over 5 years, and I share the experience that I have and the knowledge that I've accumulated. After taking a short course about forex. Like many forex traders, I've earned a significant share of my knowledge the hard way. Macroeconomics, the impact of news on the ever-moving currency markets and trading psychology have always fascinated me. Before founding Forex Crunch, I've worked as a programmer in various hi-tech companies. I have a B. Sc. in Computer Science from Ben Gurion University. Given this background, forex software has a relatively bigger share in the posts.