FOMC teases start of taper “soon”

September 22, 2021

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve on Wednesday cleared the way to reduce its monthly bond purchases “soon” and signaled interest rate increases may follow more quickly than expected, with nine of 18 U.S. central bank policymakers projecting borrowing costs will need to rise in 2022.

The actions, which were included in the Fed’s latest policy statement and separate economic projections, represent a hawkish tilt by a central bank that sees inflation running this year at 4.2%, more than double its target rate, and is positioning itself to act against it.

The current target interest rate was held steady in a range of 0% to 0.25%.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will elaborate on the latest policy statement in a news conference at 2:30 p.m. EDT (1830 GMT).

STORY:

STATEMENT:

ECONOMIC FORECASTS

MARKET REACTION:

STOCKS: The S&P 500 extended a rally and was last up 1.38%

BONDS: The 10-year U.S. Treasury note yield edged up to 1.3074% and the 2-year yield rose to 0.2221%

FOREX: The dollar index slipped 0.16%

COMMENTS:

TOM GARRETSON, SENIOR PORTFOLIO STRATEGIST, RBC WEALTH MANAGEMENT, MINNEAPOLIS

“Across the board it’s exactly what we were expecting, the Fed took another step towards a formal taper announcement, and that’s probably going to come at the next meeting or two.

“The key behind the potential rate hike was the upgrade to their inflation outlook. There are signs inflationary pressures are going to be transitory, but they are more persistent than expected. That’s the key driver as to why the balance has shifted to a potential rate hike in 2022 as opposed to 2023.

“We’re watching yield curves flatten. The Treasury market’s interpreting it as a hawkish surprise.

“It was very inline with expectations. Powell will use the press conference to reiterate to the idea that tapering is coming in the several months. It’s what I expected, not too hawkish and not too dovish.”

JOSEPH LAVORGNA, AMERICAS CHIEF ECONOMIST, NATIXIS, NEW YORK

“Unless we know who is who, which we don’t, I’m not sure the dot-plot accurately reflects the Fed’s thinking. I don’t think the Fed’s tightening is going to be anywhere near as hawkish as they anticipate. It’s going to be hard for them to execute on this plan as the economy slows next year.”

(Compiled by the U.S. Finance & Markets Breaking News team)

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