Fed: September meeting is still in play - ANZ

Research Team at ANZ, notes that San Francisco Fed President Williams (a FOMC non-voter this year, but influential nonetheless) added to the more hawkish statements made by Dudley earlier in the week.

Key Quotes

“Williams noted that the September Fed meeting is still “in play” and that “in the context of a strong domestic economy with good momentum, it makes sense to get back to a pace of gradual rate increases, preferably sooner rather than later”. The past week has obviously had a bit of Fed chatter to focus on, but it still feels that markets, in many ways are in a holding pattern at present, waiting for that something to jolt them into a new trend or trading range. Perhaps it is just the Northern Hemisphere summer and the fact that the Olympics have been serving as a bit of a distraction, but markets do feel a little quiet right now (at least by recent standards).

Saying that, this week looks set to be another quiet one, at least until Fed Chair Yellen speaks later in the week at the annual Jackson Hole retreat. It will be interesting if she takes on the slightly more hawkish rhetoric of some of her colleagues of late, as that could potentially shake markets up a little.”