Did U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell just threaten to hike rates?
At his post-meeting press conference following the Fed’s Wednesday decision to hold interest rates steady, Powell continued to insist that the president’s tariff policy risks igniting inflation.
“Increased tariffs are pushing up prices,” said Powell. “Near-term measures of inflation expectations have moved up.”
“You could say,” Powell continued, “the Fed is looking through inflation by not hiking [rates].”
Markets didn’t take kindly to the remarks, with the price of bitcoin
quickly tumbling nearly 2% to $115,800 and major U.S. stock indices moving from roughly 0.5% advances to 0.5% losses.
The carnage in altcoins was worse, with ether (ETH), solana
and XRP
each slipping nearly 4%.
The Fed earlier held its fed funds range steady at 4.25%-4.5%, in line with market expectations. There were, however, two dissents from the rate vote, with Governors Waller and Bowman favoring a 25 basis point rate cut.
Under pressure from President Trump and now two Fed members to ease policy, Powell gave no indication he’s wavering from his insistence on — at a minimum — holding rates steady.