Dollar retreats on dovish messaging from Powell, trade tensions keep simmering
The dollar is retreating and benchmark Treasury yields are plumbing four-week lows after Federal Reserve chair Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell refrained from countering market expectations for rate cuts at each of the central bank’s final two meetings this year. Speaking at the National Association for Business Economic annual meeting in Philadelphia yesterday, Powell said the “outlook for employment and inflation does not appear to have changed much since our September meeting four weeks ago”. Although “growth in economic activity may be on a somewhat firmer trajectory than expected,” available data show “goods price increases primarily reflect tariffs rather than...