Markets Retreat on Expected Fed Hawkishness
Markets are trading with a negative bias as traders brace for a hawkish message from Jerome Powell during this morning’s Congressional testimony. If the Federal Reserve chair joins his colleagues in arguing that there’s no rush to start cutting rates, investors will begin betting on an upward shift in the central bank’s policy projections. It would take only two officials turning more cautious to lift the median March “dot plot” toward showing just two rate cuts this year, down from the three previously expected. Treasury yields are holding steady, and the dollar is little changed against most of the majors....