Fed’s Powell at Jackson Hole: Prepared to Raise Rates Further if Appropriate

Restrictive monetary policy will continue to be needed until inflation is sustainably slowing, said U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell in his keynote speech at the Kansas City Fed’s Jackson Hole Symposium.

The central bank, said Powell, is ready to raise rates further if appropriate, though will proceed carefully.

The price of bitcoin (BTC) initially slipped a few dollars on the hawkish lean to Powell’s remarks, but has since bounced to modestly positive on the day at $26,200. The move is perhaps not surprising given the bearish tilt to bitcoin’s price action in the days leading up to the Jackson Hole event as traders anticipated Powell’s continued focus on corralling inflation back to the central bank’s 2% target.

According to the CME FedWatch tool, market participants are forecasting about a 20% chance of another Fed rate hike at the central bank’s September meeting, roughly the same as prior to the Powell speech.

A check of traditional markets shows U.S. stock indices posting modest gains of about 0.5%. The 10-year Treasury yield is little-changed near a 16-year high of 4.22%. Also little-changed on the session are the U.S. dollar index and the price of gold.