The US Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that several shocks have affected the markets during the last two, three years. He was speaking in the Fed’s press conference in Washington on Wednesday.
According to him after the pandemic there has been Ukraine war, supply chain bottlenecks and China Covid-lockdown, which have highlighted the meaning of price stability. Mr Powell said that this is the most important target for the Central Bank and the full employment.
He said that the US economy is strong and the labor markets as well. The low unemployment is now 3,6%.
The Fed is also starting to reduce its holdings in Treasuries as part of the balance sheet normalising after the pandemic asset purchases. This will start in the beginning of June. Mr Powell said that the timing is not any statement, but rather business as usual meaning it is a start of the quarter.
Mr Powell also revieled that the interest rates raise by 75 basis points was not the Committee was actively considering. They decided to raise rates by 50 basis points. Wall Street rallied after the decision and the main indexes increased over 2,8%.
Euro was trading at 1,0624 dollars, up 0,02%. European stock markets closed down about one percent on Wednesday trading.
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