Jerome Powell

With the central bank expected to keep its benchmark rate steady at 4.25%-4.50% on Wednesday, traders will be scrutinizing comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

The pace of hiring drove traders to dial back rate-cut bets that had steadily mounted as Trump's trade war unleashed havoc in financial markets and sowed fears of a US recession.

As President Donald Trump approaches his 100th day in office, he has generated a growing list of unknowns, forcing traders to focus on a broad array of issues beyond just the likely path of interest rates.

At the Oval, Trump didn't respond to a follow-up question from a reporter about whether he was trying to remove him.

US bonds have been whipsawed this month as President Donald Trump's move to impose global tariffs raised threats to the economy, undermining Treasuries' reputation as the world's safest asset.

Bessent reiterated his interpretation of the decline being mainly a product of deleveraging, saying he had no evidence that sovereigns were behind the drop.

The bid for havens also saw traders boosting bets on Fed interest-rate cuts, fully pricing in a quarter-point move by June.

Chair Jerome Powell repeated the central bank is not in a hurry to adjust borrowing costs. Officials can wait for greater clarity on the impact of policies.

The bond market in the past month has been caught between signs that US economic growth is slowing.

Notably, Trump described the January decision to hold rates steady – which looks set to be the Fed's stance for some time — as "the right thing to do."

Long-maturity yields rose as much as four basis points, with the 10-year note's stalling at around 4.53%. A gauge of the dollar held steady after two days of gains.

Strong economic growth coupled with a solid labor market allows officials to wait for further evidence of cooling inflation before adjusting rates again. It also offers them time to evaluate President Donald Trump's policies.

The Federal Reserve is poised to make several key decisions during the year ahead that will impact monetary policy both in the near term and for years to come.

Bonds and stocks are rallying ahead of a critical Fed meeting. But this time, the central question for Chair Jerome Powell is which approach — reducing rates by 25 basis points or 50 basis points.

In the run-up to Powell's Jackson Hole speech, Treasuries tumbled across the US curve, with the move led by shorter maturities.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell has been focused on so-called supercore CPI – core prices excluding housing – because he sees this segment of the services industry affected by a tight labor market.

Senate Democrats insist the GOP's boycott of President Biden's picks for the Federal Reserve is interfering with the central bank's handling of an economic crisis. But GOP lawmakers say the Fed is functioning fine and their concerns about nominee Sarah Bloom Raskin are material.

Sens. Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren criticized Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell over reg relief policies instituted by the central bank, signaling that some progressive lawmakers may be reluctant to give him a second term.

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said the market dislocations of the past year resulting from the pandemic had changed the impact that the supplementary leverage ratio was having on the largest banks. After temporarily easing the requirement, the central bank is considering longer-term reforms.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is dismissing claims that loose monetary policy has led to rising home values and shrinking inventory and insists that the market is buoyed by creditworthy borrowers and investors.