Fed's Kashkari: Inflation is progressing lower, labor market remains strong

Joshua Gibson FXStreet

Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari assuaged markets late Monday, reaffirming the Fed's data-dependent stance and reiterating common Fed policymaker talking points about the health of the US economy, including ongoing easing of inflationary pressures and a still-healthy labor market despite a near-term upswing in the overall unemployment rate.

Key highlights

Progress made on inflation, labor market remains strong.

Increasing joblessness not worth the cost.

Not worth it to have unemployment rate increase.

China not a significant competitor to US.

Unconcerned about the yuan replacing the dollar as a global reserve currency.

US competitiveness robust but cannot be assumed.

Reduction in labor demand could lead to increased unemployment.

Bitcoin remains worthless after twelve years.

Kashkari sees potential for generative artificial intelligence after two years

Author

Joshua Gibson

FXStreet

Joshua joins the FXStreet team as an Economics and Finance double major from Vancouver Island University with twelve years' experience as an independent trader focusing on technical analysis.

EUR/USD remains offered below 1.1800, looks at US data

EUR/USD is still trading on the defensive in the latter part of Thursday’s session, while the US Dollar maintains its bid bias as investors now gear up for Friday’s key release of the PCE data, advanced Q4 GDP prints and flash PMIs.

GBP/USD bounces off monthly lows near 1.3430

GBP/USD is sliding in tandem with its risk-sensitive peers, drifting back towards the 1.3430 area, its lowest levels in the month. The move reflects a firmer Greenback, supported by another round of solid US data and a somewhat divided FOMC Minutes.

Gold drifts higher to near $5,000 on heightened US-Iran tensions

Gold price holds positive ground near $5,000 during the early Asian session on Friday. The precious metal edges higher as escalating tensions between the United States and Iran boost safe-haven demand. Traders brace for the preliminary reading of US Gross Domestic Product for the fourth quarter, the Personal Consumption Expenditures and the S&P Global Purchasing Managers Index data, which are due later on Friday.

Ethereum: Active addresses halt growth as US selling pressure eases

Ethereum network growth has declined after two months of explosive increase. US selling pressure has eased following an improvement in the Coinbase Premium Index. ETH extends its range-bound move below the $2,107 resistance and above $1,740 .

Hawkish Fed minutes and a market finding its footing

It was green across the board for US Stock market indexes at the close on Wednesday, with most S&P 500 names ending higher, adding 38 points (0.6%) to 6,881 overall. At the GICS sector level, energy led gains, followed by technology and consumer discretionary, while utilities and real estate posted the largest losses.

Injective token surges over 13% following the approval of the mainnet upgrade proposal

Injective price rallies over 13% on Thursday after the network confirmed the approval of its IIP-619 proposal. The green light for the mainnet upgrade has boosted traders’ sentiment, as the upgrade aims to scale Injective’s real-time Ethereum Virtual Machine architecture and enhance its capabilities to support next-generation payments.