There was a lot to unpack from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday, as central bankers raised their benchmark interest rate by 75 basis points — the largest hike since late 1994 — and signaled that substantially more rate hikes were in the pipeline. Read: Fed interest-rate hike is biggest in three decades Here are four takeaways from Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference:
Be at your desk on July 13 for the June CPI data The Labor Department will release the June consumer price index report on July 13. Based on Powell’s press conference, economists think that data will be a game-changer. Powell said the Fed might hike rates in July by 50 or 75 basis points. Economists think a strong CPI print will lead the Fed to hike its benchmark rate by 75 basis points; on the other hand, a softer report might lead to a 50-basis-point hike. “The onus is really on the CPI report next month…it really heightens the event risk for the June CPI data,” said Justin Weidner, an economist at Deutsche Bank Securities. Luckily, the data will not be not released during the Fed’s blackout period — unlike the May data. So officials will be able to publicly opine on the data and what it means for interest-rate policy.Powell ‘inched up’ the possibility of a recession but didn’t quite go there. Others are. Powell walked a tricky tightrope, batting …