Jobs Data Drives Optimism in the Stock Market

According to US Federal Reserve meeting minutes released Wednesday, policymakers emphasized their "firm commitment" to returning inflation to the 2% target. Contrary to what the market is pricing in, all the Fed members believe that restrictive policy needs to remain in place to cool the "unacceptably high" inflation. In December, policymakers raised the key interest rate by 50 basis points, after four consecutive increases of 75 basis points, placing the interest rate in the 4.25%–4.50% range. On Wednesday, Minneapolis Fed president Neel Kashkari commented that his target on key interest rates is 5.4% but added that if inflation proves to remain higher than expected, he can see the policy rate much higher.

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