The Fed Codifies Fourth Consecutive 75bps Rate Hike — Stocks, Bitcoin, and Metals Rise
The U.S. Federal Reserve introduced another jumbo rate hike on Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2022, by hiking the federal funds rate (FFR) by 75 basis points (bps). The American central bank said on Wednesday that the hike aims to curb inflation and the Fed says “recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production.” U.S. Central Bank Hikes the Federal Funds Rate by 75bps
While U.S. president Joe Biden hosted an event called the “Infrastructure Talent Pipeline Challenge,” the country’s central bank increased the FFR once again by 75bps on Wednesday. Markets had priced in and predicted the 75bps increase well before the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) convened.
Just before the rate hike, the White House reported that the Biden administration plans to allocate $13.5 billion to help low-income American households pay for heating this winter. This is due to the fact that red-hot inflation has contributed to U.S. consumers paying 28% more to heat their residences than they did last winter.
“Recent indicators point to modest growth in spending and production,” the FOMC announcement said on Wednesday. “Job gains have been robust in recent months, and the unemployment rate has remained low. Inflation remains elevated, reflecting supply and demand imbalances related to the pandemic, higher food and energy prices, and broader price pressures,” the central bank added.
The Fed’s FOMC statement continued: Russia’s war against Ukraine is causing tremendous human and economic hardship. The war and related events are creating additional upward pressure on inflation and are weighing on global economic activity. The Committee is highly attentive to inflation risks.
The Fed’s rate hike follows the U.S. central bank’s key inflation gauge, the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index report, which showed an increase of 0.5% in September. Moreover, the most recent consumer price index (CPI) report, noted U.S. consumer prices jumped 8.2% in September. Stocks, Bitcoin, and Precious Metals Rise on the Possibility of a Fed Pivot
Stocks jumped ahead after the Fed announced the 75bps raise and bitcoin (BTC) also jumped 1% in the last hour following the announcement. The price of gold, per troy ounce, jumped 0.98% higher, while the price of one ounce of fine silver increased by 1.58% over the $20 per ounce region.
Markets rebounded as the Fed’s announcement hinted at a possible pivot. “The committee will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments,” the U.S. central bank said.
Freddie Mac reported last week that the average rate of a 30-year fixed mortgage jumped above 7%, after it was only 3.14% a year ago. The FFR increase will likely slowly trickle down to mortgage, credit, and lending rates affecting every American citizen looking to access these financial vehicles.
During Jerome Powell’s follow-up speech, he still insisted that rate hikes and monetary tightening were and still are needed to address the country’s red-hot inflation. Powell remarked on multiple occasions that the 2% inflation rate is still a strong goal the Federal Reserve is aiming for at the moment.
Although, he also said a slowdown in restrictive measures “is coming” and insisted it could very well happen “at this coming meeting or the next,” when reporters asked the central bank chief if the Fed would pivot by December.
Following Powell’s news conference with reporters, stocks, precious metals, and bitcoin started to lose the gains they saw an hour after the FOMC statement was released. By 2:55 p.m. (ET), all four major stock indexes declined, gold was up by 0.13%, and BTC was up by 0.6% on Wednesday afternoon. Tags in this story Bank Rate, Central Bank, Crypto, Crypto markets, dow jones, economics, Fed Chair Jerome Powell, Fed policymakers, FFR, FOMC, gold, Great Depression, Great Recession, inflation, interest rate, interest rate hikes, nasdaq, NYSE, Rate Hike, Recession, S&P 500, silver
What do you think about the Fed’s fourth consecutive 75bps rate hike? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below. Jamie Redman
Jamie Redman is the News Lead at Bitcoin.com News and a financial tech journalist living in Florida. Redman has been an active member of the cryptocurrency community since 2011. He has a passion for Bitcoin, open-source code, and decentralized applications. Since September 2015, Redman has written more than 6,000 articles for Bitcoin.com News about the disruptive protocols emerging today. Central Bank Gold Buys This Year Reach an All-Time Quarterly High in Q3, 400 Tons Purchased Is the "Most on Record’ ECONOMICS | 12 hours ago Economists Warn of Severe Recession as Fed Continues Raising Interest Rates to Fight Inflation ECONOMICS | 15 hours ago
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons Previous articleRussia Plans to Allow Mining of Any Cryptocurrency, Lawmaker Unveils Next articlePhilippines Financial Institution Unionbank Now Provides Crypto Custody and Trading Services Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article. Read disclaimerShow comments More Popular NewsIn Case You Missed ItOman to Incorporate Real Estate Tokenization in Virtual Assets Regulatory Framework
Real estate tokenization is set to be incorporated into Oman Capital Markets Authority (OCMA)"s virtual asset regulatory framework. According to an advisor with the authority, the tokenizing of real estate will open investment opportunities for local and foreign investors. Real ... read more.NFT Sales Volume Saw a Small Uptick This Week — Moonbirds, Mutant Apes Take Top Sales Interest in Real Estate Investments in Spain Grew 400%, With Some Using Crypto and Stocks as Payment Method Iran to Increase Penalties for Unauthorized Cryptocurrency Mining Ethereum Foundation"s Financial Report Discloses It Holds $1.6 Billion in Assets, 80.5% Held in Ether