Bullard: Conditions To Raise Rates Have Been Met

She did not comment on the rate hike timing or the USA economy.

“While the [Fed’s] goals have been met, the policy settings remain as extreme as they have been at any time since the recession ended in 2009”, Bullard told an audience at the Cato monetary policy conference in Washington.

The Federal Reserve has been perturbed by inflation that continues to run below its 2 percent target rate, and a few Fed officials have advocated waiting for more signs that inflation will rise before embarking on a path of monetary tightening.

Earlier Thursday, data showed weekly USA jobless claims held steady at levels consistent with sustained labor market strength that could encourage the Fed to raise rates next month.

Chicago Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Evans on Tuesday said he takes “very seriously” the possibility that the public is sceptical about the US central bank’s commitment to get inflation back up to its 2-percent goal.

Dow e-minis 1YMc1 were down 18 points, or 0.1 percent, with 18,644 contracts changing hands.

By keeping short-term interest rates near zero for seven years, Bullard said, the central bank has put the economy at “considerable risk of future inflation”.

NY Fed President William Dudley and Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer are scheduled to speak later in the day.

Nordstrom and Cisco are slated to report results after the close.

European shares were lower in early trading Thursday.