The Fed continues to tighten policy

News of the day, Thursday, 5 May

The Federal Reserve raised the interest rate by 0,5% yesterday. This hike was the biggest since 2000, as inflation has been soaring for a while now. Jerome Powell also mentioned that further inflation measures might cause “some pain”.

"In support of these goals, the Committee decided to raise the target range for the federal funds rate to 3/4 to 1 percent and anticipates that ongoing increases in the target range will be appropriate," the Fed said in a statement.

Fed’s chairman Jerome Powell announced this rate hike in April. According to his previous announcements, more aggressive monetary policy tightening moves shouldn’t be expected soon, as the Fed plans to hold interest rates under the 2% level. The current interest is 0.75-1%.

The 10-year Treasury Yields rose to almost 3% today after the Fed’s rate hike. 

The price of Brent crude is $110.30, WTI — $107.70, GBP/USD — 1.2561, EUR/USD — 1.0600, and gold costs $1895.30 per ounce.