🔸Reasons the market reacted to Mr. Powell's statements

🔸Policy

- Current interest rates are appropriate for the state of the economy.

- The Fed is actively standing still to review new data.

-> Mr. Powell stated that the Fed is a long way from letting the market or "any political forces" influence its decisions.

🔸Economy

- The risks of rising inflation and declining employment have diminished, but are not completely gone.

- The number of new jobs is nearly zero.

- GDP for the year is above 2%

-> Mr. Powell is confident there will be no hard landing.

🔸Inflation

- Long-term inflation expectations are unchanged.

- Inflation due to tariffs is temporary, expected to decrease from mid-2026.

-> There is no reason to rush to loosen.

🔸USD - Gold - Silver

- Mr. Powell avoided commenting on the USD, "that is the responsibility of the Treasury Department."

- The Fed "does not see data" indicating that risk-averse capital is leaving the USD.

- The rise in gold and silver prices is not linked by the Fed to macroeconomic instability.

🔸Mr. Powell did not answer about staying at the Fed after his term -> implicitly understood to mean he will stay. He also emphasized that the Lisa Cook issue is a key problem regarding the independence of Fed personnel. Overall, he is quite hawkish, optimistic about the U.S. economy, and has not hinted at any changes in the interest rate path.