Federal Chair Powell Comments on Inflation, Interest Rates

Federal Reserve Chair, Jerome Powell, highlighted that recent US inflation data is within expected range, suggesting no immediate changes to the interest rates. Powell stated that the February figures for the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index were acceptable, despite a 2.5% annual increase, which is slightly higher than the previous month. He emphasized that the Fed will not overreact to these figures. Powell is expected to elaborate on the Fed's monetary policy at Stanford University next week. However, the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan's stance on rate cuts remains unchanged.