The Fed Chair Janet Yellen spoke last week as she revealed that the central bank might have overstated the strength of the labor market and inflation estimates. Speaking in Cleveland, Ms. Yellen said that the trends in the employment, wage and price pressures shifted from what officials had forecasted.
She said that this would mean a more dovish Fed when it comes to monetary policy tightening. At its meeting last week, the FOMC left interest rates unchanged and lowered its forecasts for inflation. Yellen, however, said that the pace of rate hikes is warranted.
Looking ahead, the economic data today will see the US durable goods orders followed by speeches from the BoC Governor, Poloz and Lael Brainard from the FOMC. Later in the evening, the RBNZ will be announcing its monetary policy decision. The RBNZ’s OCR is expected to remain unchanged at 1.75%.