Well, Powell did dress the pig, 30 minutes after market open. That he was speaking so soon after market open possibly explains the fairly muted pre-market response to the PPI reports.
PPI inflation climbed 0.5% last month, ahead of the 0.3% increase forecast by economists. However, selling pressure was tempered by revisions to the March data to show a 0.1% decline in prices. Core PPI and PPI both increased on a year over year basis, with the core value now over 3% again.
The market initially struggled but regained strength after Powell described the inflation data as "mixed", not "hot". He added that he did not not expect the central bank's next move on rates to be a hike. “I don’t think that it’s likely, based on the data that we have, that the next move that we make would be a rate hike,” he said. “I think it’s more likely that we’ll be at a place where we hold the policy rate where it is.
The April CPI report scheduled tonight, may carry less weight following Powell's comments.
Up is down and down is up … I best recalibrate before pinning tonight lol.
