Fed Announces Rate Decision Next Week, Powell Holds First Press Conference as Chair

According to ChainCatcher, the Federal Reserve will announce its interest rate decision on June 16 (Beijing time 2:00 AM), with Fed Chair Jerome Powell holding his first monetary policy press conference at 2:30 AM the same day. Powell has remained silent since taking office, making this press conference a key test of his monetary policy stance and potential signals on communication mechanism reforms.

Market participants are closely watching three hawkish signals: whether the Fed will remove language indicating a bias toward rate cuts from its policy statement; changes to the dot plot, which previously showed one rate cut possible in 2026 but may now signal rate stability or potential hikes; and whether officials' inflation concerns increase while labor market worries ease, potentially paving the way for future rate increases.