Federal Reserve's interest rate outlook: Powell can only provide limited reassurance to the market, with threats mainly coming from the White House

According to BlockBeats, on March 17th, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell faced a tricky task this week. In Thursday's early morning interest rate decision, he had to assure investors that the economic foundation remained stable while conveying that policymakers would be ready to intervene if necessary. Powell's praise for the resilience of the US economy comes at a time when Trump's rapid escalation of the trade war has sparked unease and led to a sharp decline in US stocks over the past month. As concerns about the economic outlook intensify, consumer confidence is declining and bond yields are also decreasing. Dominic Konstantin, head of macro strategy at Mizuho Securities in the United States, said, "Powell needs to send some kind of signal that they are paying attention to the stock market. Officials cannot ignore the recent decline Economists generally expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates twice this year. Some investors warn that if officials continue to signal only two interest rate cuts in 2025, it will be even more necessary for the Fed chairman to emphasize that if there are problems in the labor market, the Fed is willing to adjust borrowing costs. James Ethe, portfolio manager at Marlborough Investment Management, said, "The Federal Reserve may slightly improve or worsen the situation at the margin. But obviously they cannot completely calm the market, as the blow to market sentiment mainly comes from the White House." Apart from issuing escalating and changing tariff threats to trading partners, the Trump administration has not taken much action to mitigate the risk of economic recession. (Golden Ten)