Morning Bid: Markets fear Fed floor at 4%, dollar booms
Although the Federal Reserve's "hawkish cut" on Thursday had been broadly expected, markets now fear 4% policy rates will be the floor for the coming year at least - and no further easing until midyear or later. The picture painted by the Fed removes monetary easing as tailwind from the stock market for months and has seen the dollar rocket to its highest in more than two years - bowling over emerging, developed and crypto currencies alike. Lifting their median inflation forecast for next year by 0.3 percentage point to 2.5% but only nudging the GDP growth up a tenth to 2.1%, Fed policymakers also raised their policy rate forecasts for the next two years by half a point to 3.9% and 3.4% respectively.