The most important comment in fomc is,

Risk is better balanced in achieving employment and inflation targets.

I think it would have been the above.

Expectations that the U.S. economy is slowly normalizing
I feel like it’s driving the whole market strong

In the meantime, if you look at the market stocks soaring
Everyone’s been waiting for it

Hanwha Lim Hye-yoon

1) The Fed maintains its outlook for three rate cuts this year. Next year, it will be reduced to three cuts
Although Fed members maintained their outlook for lowering the benchmark interest rate three times at 25 basis points this year, their forecast for next year’s cut was revised to three times from the fourth time last December. Fed members unanimously froze the target range for the fifth consecutive time, at 5.25% to 5.5%, the highest since 2001. For the future path of the benchmark interest rate, they expected a total cut of 75 basis points this year, based on the median of the dot plot, to 4.6%, and raised their forecast to 3.9% in 2025 from 3.6% to 3.1% from 2.9% to 3.1% in 2026. “We believe risks are better balanced in meeting employment and inflation targets,” the statement said, maintaining guidance that a rate cut is not appropriate until there is a stronger confidence that inflation is heading toward the 2% target

2) Powell ‘cut interest rates at some point this year’
Fed Chairman Powell said that a rate cut is appropriate “at some point this year,” relieving some investors of concerns that it may be difficult to cut it within this year. However, he declined to give an immediate answer when asked if the first cut was in May or June. It is also appropriate to slow down soon regarding quantitative tightening, and such a move is expected to help money markets adjust smoothly so that they do not experience havoc like they did in 2019. “The dot plot has not changed this year, so it looks more dovish than the market expected,” said Zachary Griffiths of Credit Sights. Bloomberg Economics maintains its forecast that the Fed will cut interest rates from June, but points out that the Fed’s outlook for rate and economic revision shows that more Fed members believe the neutral rate has risen

3) UK inflation 3.4%, lowest in two-and-a-half years. BOE bets June cut
The UK’s consumer price index (CPI) growth in February fell to 3.4% year-on-year, below market expectations of 3.5%, the lowest since September 2021. The Bank of England (BOE) will not cut its key interest rate from a 16-year high of 5.25% at its policy meeting this week, but it is expected to consider when to start easing. Swap markets see a 50% chance of a June cut, and prices reflect expectations of almost three cuts of 25 basis points by the end of the year. The pound was once 0.3% behind the dollar, while the 2-year gilt bond rate fell by about 6 basis points. “When inflation gets closer to the BOE’s target, it opens the door for the BOE to consider cutting rates,” Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt said. “This will lower mortgage rates and bring about a very big change.”

4) ECB Lagarde ‘could cut in June but fails to promise further cuts’
European Central Bank (ECB) President Christine Lagarde said it was possible to cut interest rates in June but could not promise further cuts afterwards. “We will learn a little more in April and a lot more in June about indicators related to policymaking,” he reiterated, but explained that the monetary policy path was unclear after that. “Our decisions must be indicator-dependent and respond as soon as new information comes in at each meeting,” he said, adding that “even if we make the first rate cut, we cannot predetermine a specific rate path.”

5) U.S. government to provide Intel with about $20 billion in grants and loans
The U.S. government has decided to provide $8.5 billion in subsidies and up to $11 billion in loans to Intel to help expand its semiconductor plants under the Chips Act. The Semiconductor Act, enacted in 2022, allocates $39 billion in subsidies and $75 billion in loans and guarantees to divert semiconductor production facilities that are biased toward Asia to the U.S. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Lumondo said the U.S. will have the U.S. produce one-fifth of the world’s advanced logic semiconductors by the end of the 2020s, stressing that Intel’s investment is a key part of that goal