Last month, the US Federal Reserve announced it would start to gradually tighten monetary policy. Most Committee members and experts suggest key interest rates will be raised to an average of 3% in the next 2-3 years. They also believe interest rate hikes will be announced at least 2-3 times next year. Such a scenario seems imaginable as even more Federal Reserve policymakers look likely to accelerate the winddown of their bond-buying program. Last week, New York Fed President John Williams joined some of his hawkish colleagues by speaking in favor of a quicker QE taper. St. Louis Fed President James Bullard also took the moment to call for faster action by the Fed's policy-setting panel. Bullard has for months made hawkish comments. Therefore, no one expected him to change his view this time. On December 3, Bullard said the Fed should finish the bond-buying taper earlier because GDP had soared above the pre-pandemic levels. "The danger now is that we get too much inflation... it's time for the (Fed) to react at upcoming meetings," he argued. The President of the Fed of St. Louis also hinted that he was going to raise the issue of finishing the asset purchasing program earlier in the upcoming meetings. Notably, Bullard said 'meetings' and not 'the meeting', which means he does not believe the Federal Reserve could announce further monetary policy tightening in the December meeting.
At the same time, the central bank might have no other option after December 12 rather than to announce policy tightening. After all, it is about rising consumer prices. For instance, the annual inflation rate accelerated to 6.2% versus 5.4% in October. In addition, it is estimated to soar to 6.7%-6.9% in November. In other words, inflation is rising fast. Speaking of the Omicron variant of coronavirus, Bullard said it was too early to make any judgments about its impact on the health care of the American economy. At the same time, Omicron cases are now being detected in more countries around the world. It seems that the situation is deteriorating as the latest strain is spreading rapidly. The President of the Fed of St. Louis also pinpointed that the Federal Reserve could announce interest rate hikes twice next year and finish the QE program by March and not by June, as previously planned. Therefore, it seems that the regulator is likely to tighten monetary policy faster because it should react to ongoing changes in the American economy. This will inevitably have a negative impact on the stock market.
