Morning Bid: Ukraine ceasefire hopes soften US inflation blow
Investors banking on the recent decline in U.S. bond yields and the dollar underpinning a rally across risk assets got a stark reminder in the shape of punchy U.S. inflation on Wednesday that interest rates won't be coming down any time soon. In fact, they got a few reminders - Fed Chair Jerome Powell repeated his view that monetary policy must remain restrictive for now, and House Republicans unveiled a fiscal plan that would cut taxes by about $4.5 trillion over a decade and raise the federal debt ceiling by $4 trillion. Faced with sticky inflation, fiscal largesse and Powell's confidence in the U.S. economy, rates markets are now only pricing in one Fed rate cut this year, which would leave the fed funds rate above 4.00%.