Fed’s Collins: More rate hikes are required to curb inflation

Federal Reserve Bank of Boston President Susan Collins said on Thursday that more rate hikes are required to bring inflation back in control. She added that the extent of interest rate hikes will be determined by incoming data.

Collins’ comments were not surprising as she reiterated previous statements by Fed policymakers throughout February. Later, on Thursday, Fed’s Christopher Waller will speak on the economic outlook and Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will participate in an event on “Race, Justice and the Economy”.

Initial Jobless Claims for the week ending on February 25 were reported by the US Department of Labor (DoL) as being 190K rather than the 195K analysts had projected. The 4-week moving average, which helps balance out week-to-week variations, was 193K and indicated a small increase from the average of the prior week of 191K. The headline caused the GBP/USD to continue to fall, printing a new daily low of 1.1924 before turning around.

US Treasury bond yields begin to achieve higher rates, with investors lifting US Treasury bond yields, with 2s, 3s, 5s, and 10s, above the 4% usual threshold. As a result, the US Dollar is surging 0.57%, according to the performance of the US Dollar Index, at 104.971.

Neel Kashkari, the president of the Fed of Minnesota, continued the Fed parade by stating that rates should be increased to approximately 5.4%. Raphael Bostic, president of the Atlanta Fed, adding that he believes the Federal Fund Rates (FFR) will peak in the 5.0%–5.25% range. And stated once more that it would remain there “far into 2024.”