Fed hints balance out but hikes still in pipeline – Hilsenrath via ForexLive

The new hints of “hawkish” and “dovish” leanings seem to balance out, WSJ Fedwatcher Jon Hilsenrath writes but he said the Fed is still on course towards raising rates.

He notes that an assessment of ‘solid' economic growth is tempered by expectations it will fall back to a moderate pace. On the flipside, soft inflation is also characterized as a temporary pheonomenon.

The Fed didn't mention the dollar but it did express some worry about international economies and Hilsenrath said the dollar is certainly a part of the thinking.

“Of course the Fed is looking at international developments and paying attention to the value of the dollar”, Hilsenrath writes.

Hilsenrath continues to believe that the Fed wants to hike in the middle of the year. The interest rate market implies only about a 12% chance of a rate hike in June.

Officials see many conflicting signals right now emanating from oil prices, headline inflation, international developments and bond markets. They clearly don't want to get ahead of themselves in making judgments about what these developments mean. But with the labor market on track, they appear to have decided to stay the course toward rate increases this year, and concluded June can't yet be taken off the table.

There's some chatter about the article in markets but it's not doing anything for the US dollar.

posted via ForexLive