All Eyes on Today’s Powell's Policy Review Amid Market Optimism | June 21, 2023

Get ready for Fed Chair Jerome Powell's semiannual monetary policy testimony before CongresS, a crucial event following last week's #FOMC meeting. Policymakers maintained interest rates but suggested two additional rate hikes for later in the year, a strategy some refer to as a "hawkish pause". The decision to hold rates is viewed as an opportunity by Powell and most policymakers to assess the broader economic impacts of their policy direction.

Powell will be addressing questions from the Senate Banking Committee and later the House Financial Services Committee, providing insight into his rationale for pausing the rate hikes and detailing the metrics the Fed continues to monitor post one of the swiftest hiking campaigns in history. With inflation exceeding the Fed's 2% target and a tightly knit labor market, the hearings will be of significant interest. Stock traders, despite last week's FOMC decision, have driven equity markets upwards, reinforcing the 2023 market rally. This positive trend is bolstered by mitigated significant risks like broad banking contagion and settled debt ceiling issues until the next election cycle, along with stronger than anticipated economic indicators, including a surprising boost in new home construction. #News #Congress #FOMC #Fed #MarketUpdate