Fed’s Collins backs a slowdown on rate hikes

Boston Federal Reserve’s Susan Collins backs a slowdown in the US interest rate increases. Collins also noted that she was leaning toward a quarter-point move at the FOMC’s next meeting on February 1.

“I think 25 or 50 would be reasonable; I’d lean at this stage to 25, but it’s very data-dependent,” Collins said in an interview with The New York Times.

The American currency is mixed ahead of the US Consumer Price Index reading on Thursday. The risks there are balances to a blow-off in markets if the data comes higher than expected which could fuel another US dollar’s rally.

Markets are expecting the headline CPI inflation to register a slight decline in December as energy prices offered large relief again. The Dollar Index’s reading at the time of writing is down by (−0.07%) at 103.19 versus the previous closing at 103.274.