Fed chair Jerome Powell remarks (LIVE) GOLD sets new ATH

Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has now begun his press conference. Here are some of his remarks.

• The economy remains generally in good shape.
• The Fed kept interest rates unchanged but slowed the pace of balance sheet reduction.
• Labor market conditions remain strong.
• Sentiment indices indicate significant uncertainty regarding the economy.
• There is a noticeable slowdown in consumer spending.
• Inflation remains elevated, with tariffs driving up inflation expectations.
• The Fed must distinguish signals from noise when assessing the economy and indicators.
• The Fed is in no rush to adjust interest rates.
• The Fed is in a good position to wait for greater clarity and gain more confidence about the future.
• If the economy remains strong and inflation does not move toward the target, the Fed may keep rates higher for longer.
• The Fed has noticed some tensions in the money market, which led to the decision to adjust the pace of balance sheet reduction.
• This should not be interpreted as a shift in monetary policy.
• Goods inflation moved up, trying to track that back to tariff increases is challenging. Clearly tariffs are part of it.
• My base case is that there is no policy signal from tariffs, but I can't know that.
• It is too soon to say if it will be appropriate to look through the effect of tariff inflation. A good part of marked-up inflation comes from tariffs.

GOLD surged to new ATH today, near levels from today morning, at $3045 per ounce. Overall, Powell remarks are more hawkish that the Fed statement. However, Powell said that 'survey data show a significant rise in uncertainty and downside risks' potentially signalling the readiness to react if US economy slow down.

Source: xStation5