Investors are betting that newly renominated Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell will need to step up the pace at which the central bank is normalizing monetary policy to better grapple with surging consumer prices.
For months, Powell has insisted the current bout of inflation is likely to be transitory, and said the central bank will be "patient" in deciding when to begin raising its benchmark rate from near-zero. The Fed kicked off the taper of its $120 billion per month bond buying program in November, with a plan to end purchases altogether in mid-2022.
Some investors, however, believe the Fed will need to taper faster and raise rates sooner than expected to tame rising consumer prices, which grew at the quickest pace in more than three decades in October. Their view has been reinforced by recent public debate among some Fed officials on whether to withdraw support for the economy more quickly to help tame inflation.
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