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10 Feb 2016
Yellen beating the same drum - ING
Rob Carnell, analyst at ING Bank, explained Yellen in a summary.
Key Quotes:
"Yellen retains an open mind on the need for further tightening, though with a heavy skew of risks to the downside, and was defensive about the December rate hike.
The mercifully short prepared statement of Fed Chair Yellen to the House Committee on Financial Services did not contain much that was new from earlier speeches, statements or minutes.
To the extent that any new material was used, this was mainly an expansion of the risks from softer overseas demand, with China explicitly mentioned, and also from financial market tightening (stronger USD, higher yields on riskier assets and lower equity prices, offset to some extent by lower bond yields and oil prices).
The testimony retained the text about the possibility that rates might have to be increased at a faster than anticipated rate if growth and inflation were stronger than expected. However, that is sounding rather hollow right now.
We see the continued inclusion of this text as an attempt to portray an open mind about the recent activity slowdown, and not to present a self-fulfilling picture of gloom at the Fed. Financial markets may see this as dovish speech overall, though probably not out of line with expectations.
There was also a somewhat defensive paragraph justifying the December rate hike – we expect that once the questioning starts, Chair Yellen will come in for some stick from disgruntled members of Congress, some of whom may be facing a hostile electorate later this year."
Key Quotes:
"Yellen retains an open mind on the need for further tightening, though with a heavy skew of risks to the downside, and was defensive about the December rate hike.
The mercifully short prepared statement of Fed Chair Yellen to the House Committee on Financial Services did not contain much that was new from earlier speeches, statements or minutes.
To the extent that any new material was used, this was mainly an expansion of the risks from softer overseas demand, with China explicitly mentioned, and also from financial market tightening (stronger USD, higher yields on riskier assets and lower equity prices, offset to some extent by lower bond yields and oil prices).
The testimony retained the text about the possibility that rates might have to be increased at a faster than anticipated rate if growth and inflation were stronger than expected. However, that is sounding rather hollow right now.
We see the continued inclusion of this text as an attempt to portray an open mind about the recent activity slowdown, and not to present a self-fulfilling picture of gloom at the Fed. Financial markets may see this as dovish speech overall, though probably not out of line with expectations.
There was also a somewhat defensive paragraph justifying the December rate hike – we expect that once the questioning starts, Chair Yellen will come in for some stick from disgruntled members of Congress, some of whom may be facing a hostile electorate later this year."