Warsh Warns Markets to Focus on Data, Not Speculation

Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh told markets to focus on the data rather than speculating about Fed intentions. This came after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) voted 9-3 to keep interest rates steady.

Warsh emphasized that inflation is above target and the committee aims to bring it down, citing five years of elevated prices as evidence that the Fed has not quietly tolerated inflation above 2%. He downplayed a recent core Consumer Price Index (CPI) print and stated that inflation cannot be cured in nine weeks.

The FOMC statement kept the federal funds range at 3.50% to 3.75%, with no forward guidance, marking a shift from the Jerome Powell era.

Nominal and real yields are now higher across the Treasury curve, but Warsh said the Fed is trying to stay out of that repricing process and let market signals come through unfiltered.

The 10-year Treasury yield eased to 4.620% after touching 4.650%, while the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) turned positive at $742.00, up 0.17%. Gold spot pushed above $4,100 and Bitcoin (BTC) followed the rebound.