The Fed Chair is ‘not confident’ enough has been done to decrease inflation

A slow week for economic data has meant yields were kept relatively quiet compared to last week’s dramatic fall. Fed Governors on the speaking circuit were the main drivers of yields early in the week as some tried to temper down expectations that the Fed hiking cycle is completed. Minneapolis Fed President Kashkari stressed that they need to see more data before declaring that tightening is completed. 

Yields dipped on Wednesday following a better-than-expected 10-year auction, which was driven by the continuing market narrative that the Fed is likely done with its hiking cycle. However, investors keyed into Fed Chair Powell’s contrasting statements at the IMF conference Thursday afternoon. Powell asserted, “The Federal Open Market Committee is committed to achieving a stance of monetary policy that is sufficiently restrictive to bring inflation down to 2 percent over time; we are not confident that we have achieved such a stance.”