Investors hope Federal Reserve leader’s speech offers clarity

Against the backdrop of a vulnerable economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell takes center stage Friday with the financial world seeking clarity on whether last month’s first Fed rate cut in a decade likely marked the start of a period of easier credit.

The confusion has only heightened in the days leading to the annual gathering of global central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, at which Powell will give the keynote address.

Investors are looking for a clearer signal from Powell that he and other members of the Fed’s interest rate committee support further rate cuts to counter a slowing global economy and calm turbulent markets. Yet they might not get it.

Minutes of the Fed’s July meeting released Wednesday showed that although officials voted 8-2 to cut their benchmark rate by a quarter-point, there was a wider divergence of opinion on the committee than the two dissenting votes against the rate cut had indicated.

The minutes showed that two Fed officials favored a more aggressive half-point rate cut, while some others adopted the polar opposite view: They felt the Fed shouldn’t cut rates at all.

The minutes depicted the rate cut as a “mid-cycle adjustment,” the phrase Powell had used at his news conference after the rate cut. That wording upset traders who interpreted the remark as suggesting that the Fed might not be preparing for a series of rate cuts to support an economy that’s struggling with a global slowdown and escalating uncertainty from President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

There was even a difference of opinion among the Fed members who favored a rate cut, the minutes showed, with some concerned most about subpar inflation and others worried more about the threats to economic growth.

Comments Thursday from Fed officials gathering in Jackson Hole reflected the committee’s sharp divisions, including some reluctance to cut rates at least until the economic picture changes.

“I think we should stay here for awhile and see how things play out,” said Patrick Harker, the president of the Fed’s Philadelphia regional bank.

Esther George, president of the Fed’s Kansas City regional bank and one of the dissenting votes in July, said, “While I see downside risk, I wasn’t ready to act on that relative to the performance of the economy.”

George said she saw some areas of strength, including very low unemployment and inflation now closer to the Fed’s target level. She said her decision on a possible future rate cut would depend on forthcoming data releases.

Robert Kaplan, president of the Fed’s Dallas branch indicated that he might be prepared to support further rate cuts.

If “we are seeing some weakness in manufacturing and global growth, then it may be good to take some action,” Kaplan said.

George was interviewed on Fox Business Network; Harker and Kaplan spoke on CNBC.

The CME Group, which tracks investor bets on central bank policy, is projecting the likelihood that the Fed will cut rates at least twice more before year’s end.

Adding to the pressures on the Fed, Trump has kept up his attacks on the central bank and on Powell personally, arguing that Fed officials have kept rates too high and should be cutting them aggressively.

Trump has argued that a full percentage-point rate reduction in coming months would be appropriate — a suggestion that most economists consider extravagantly excessive as well as an improper intrusion on the Fed’s political independence.

The president contends that lower rates in other countries have caused the dollar to rise in value and thereby hurt U.S. export sales.

“Our Federal Reserve does not allow us to do what we must do,” Trump tweeted Thursday. “They put us at a disadvantage against our competition.”

Earlier in the week, he had told reporters, “If the Fed would do its job, you would see a burst of growth like you have never seen before.”

Powell has insisted that the White House criticism has had no effect on the Fed’s deliberations over interest rate policy.