Traders of futures contracts that track expectations for the Federal Reserve’s policy rate pushed out bets on the U.S. central bank’s likely first interest-rate cut to June of next year, after Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he was not yet convinced rates are “sufficiently restrictive.”
The contracts had earlier priced the Fed’s first rate cut as more likely than not in May.
Traders still are overwhelmingly betting against another Fed interest-rate hike, although prices after Powell spoke reflected a slight bump up in the probability seen of a rate hike in December or January.
(Editing by Mark Porter)
