Fed's Powell: Restrictive policy needs further time to work
Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell participates in a fireside chat about economic trends in North America at the Wilson Center’s Washington Forum in Washington, DC.
Powell said that the U.S. economy's performance has been quite robust. He added that recent data indicates a lack of significant progress on inflation this year. Despite ongoing strength, Powell noted that the labour market is transitioning towards a better equilibrium.
Key Quotes
The performance of the US has been "quite strong"
Recent data shows lack of further progress on inflation this year
The labour market moving into better balance even amidst ongoing strength.
Broader wage pressures are moderating gradually.
Twelve month core PCE inflation was little changed in March, according to estimates.
Fed took a cautious approach to not overreacting to declines last year; recent data have not given greater confidence.
If higher inflation persists the Fed can maintain current rate as long as needed.
Restrictive policy needs further time to work.
Market Reaction
The Greenback maintains its bullish performance unchanged so far on Tuesday, taking the USD Index (DXY) to the area of multi-month peaks around 106.40-106.50.
US Dollar price this week
The table below shows the percentage change of US Dollar (USD) against listed major currencies this week. US Dollar was the weakest against the Swiss Franc.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | 0.27% | 0.32% | 0.49% | 1.12% | 0.92% | 1.11% | -0.04% | |
| EUR | -0.33% | 0.05% | 0.23% | 0.80% | 0.58% | 0.78% | -0.38% | |
| GBP | -0.34% | -0.01% | 0.17% | 0.79% | 0.58% | 0.77% | -0.38% | |
| CAD | -0.52% | -0.19% | -0.19% | 0.61% | 0.40% | 0.60% | -0.56% | |
| AUD | -1.13% | -0.80% | -0.81% | -0.63% | -0.21% | -0.01% | -1.18% | |
| JPY | -0.89% | -0.57% | -0.56% | -0.41% | 0.22% | 0.16% | -0.95% | |
| NZD | -1.12% | -0.85% | -0.80% | -0.61% | 0.01% | -0.19% | -1.16% | |
| CHF | 0.04% | 0.30% | 0.38% | 0.56% | 1.16% | 0.94% | 1.14% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).