While investors and some Fed officials are worried about the recent dip in inflation and are looking for greater progress toward the central bank’s 2% target, Yellen argued that some temporary factors are holding back inflation but the Fed is still on pace to hit its target goal.
“It was a little bit more dovish than most had thought,” Richard Scalone, co-head of foreign exchange at TJM Brokerage, told Reuters. “She said rates won’t have to rise much further to get to neutral, I thought that was key. She said inflation response to economy is a key uncertainty, alluding to the inflation again, part of the dovishness.”
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Looking ahead, fund options traders were betting on a 53% chance of a rate hike at the Fed’s December meeting after the release of Yellen’s testimony, compared to previous wagers of a 60% chance.
“In the absence of the micro data that corporate earnings release, central bankers will continue to be a great point of emphasis for investors,” Eric Wiegand, portfolio manager at the Private Client Reserve at U.S. Bank, told the WSJ.
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