Daily Market Diary

Powell Says Bigger Hikes May Come Back

Recent data show that US inflation is higher than expected, which will put pressure on the US Federal Reserve to raise interest rates even more.

The Fed is reacting to all the new information about how strong the US job market is and how high inflation has stayed. Chair Jerome Powell said that the central bank is likely to raise interest rates higher and maybe even faster than was expected before. This is a change from last month, when the rate of increases slowed down. Powell told the Senate Banking Committee, “Economic data have been better than expected, which suggests that the final level of interest rates is likely to be higher than we thought before.” Stocks fell quickly as Wall Street screamed. Here's a look at the markets.

Here are the top stories of the day.

Billionaire Ken Griffin says that the groundwork has been set for a recession because the Fed needs to raise rates even more and because Americans have been through “traumatic” levels of inflation. But the founder of Citadel said that raising interest rates isn't a very good way for the Fed to fight rising prices, comparing it to “doing surgery with a dull knife.”

US regulators have been sent to Silvergate Capital's headquarters as the troubled bank tries to figure out how to stay in business. Officials from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. are said to be talking with management about how to keep the government from shutting down.

As China's leaders meet in Beijing, they are sending a message of blame to the United States that goes from the Taiwan Strait to Ukraine and all over the world economy. China's new foreign minister gave a very serious warning that rising tensions between the US and China could cause the relationship to go too far. “The US says it wants to beat China at its own game, but it doesn't want a fight,” Foreign Minister Qin Gang said at his first news conference since taking office. “But in reality, its so-called competition is meant to contain and control China in every way and get the two countries stuck in a zero-sum game.” A few months ago, when President Joe Biden met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, it seemed like the start of a fresh start. But since a supposed Chinese spy balloon flew over the US, things have been getting worse and worse.