Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is speaking at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium today. The annual meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve brings together central bankers from around the world at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to discuss future directions for monetary policy.
Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium 2024 theme is ‘Reassessing the Effectiveness and Transmission of Monetary Policy’. The 2024 Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium is being held over three days – August 22-24.
Fed Chair Powell will be speaking on Friday, August 23. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s remarks will be streamed on the Kansas City Fed’s YouTube channel, External Link youtube.com/kansascityfed on Friday, August 23 at 10:00 a.m. EDT/8:00 a.m. MDT.
The next FOMC meeting is on September 17-18. But, before the September meeting of the monetary policy committee, Fed chairman Jerome Powell has an opportunity to speak on inflation and the economy.
Powell’s economic statement on Friday would be the center of attention given the recent volatility in international markets and the more encouraging U.S. retail sales and inflation figures.
We are getting closer to the day when the US Fed is expected to cut rates for the first time since the monetary policy tightened in 2022. But, before that July’s CPI data will arrive on September 11 and a host of other key economic indicators and jobs, and unemployment data also flow in. Rate cut is anticipated; this is the current market scenario, not because recessionary fears are present but rather because inflation is declining.”
The speech by Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday is expected to pave the way for an interest rate cut at the September policy meeting, with the focus shifting to the extent of the rate cut in September and subsequent meetings.
The US CPI data released recently showed an easing of consumer price pressures. Weekly unemployment claims came in lower than anticipated, allaying worries about a faltering labor market, while a monthly report on retail sales exceeded expectations and demonstrated the ongoing resilience of the American consumer.
A poor July jobs report earlier in the month had raised concerns that the economy might be heading into a recession and that the Fed would have to act quickly to avert one.
Investors will be paying close attention to Fed members’ comments for signs of how the latest economic data may influence the central bank’s decision on rate cuts. The Fed has stated that if data arrives as expected, it may begin reducing rates in September.
ING THINK in their report says – Our position is that the Federal Reserve doesn’t want to cause a recession if they can avoid it, and if the data allows, we expect officials to start moving monetary policy from “restrictive” territory to “slightly less” restrictive policy from September.
We are getting very close, and assuming things pan out as we expect, the Fed will use the Jackson Hole symposium to show they’re re-evaluating the outlook and will be cutting their growth and inflation forecasts and raising their unemployment projection in September. This, we believe, will pave the way for three rate cuts this year in September, November and December, with at least three more next year.
Investors globally are keeping a close watch on Powell’s speech and markets are sitting pretty at a high. The bullish sentiments of the stock markets reflect the optimism generated by the possibility of an interest rate cut in September, based on signals from the Federal Reserve. However, investor attention is now focused on Jerome Powell’s speech in Jackson Hole, which could offer a clearer view of the future of U.S. monetary policy.
What is on Powell’s mind – that probably gets revealed during the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium on August 23.