WASHINGTON (BLOOMBERG, REUTERS) - Traders are pricing in a ramp-up in tapering bond purchases by the United States Federal Reserve and the potential for a June lift-off on rate hikes after US President Joe Biden selected Mr Jerome Powell to serve another four years as the central bank's chair.
Futures on the federal funds rate, which track short-term interest rate expectations, have fully priced in a quarter-point tightening by next June, up from more than 90 per cent before Mr Biden's announcement.
The simple fact that the pick is now out of the way may allow the Fed to turn slightly more hawkish, said analysts.
There has been a notable repricing already, related in large part to the fact that Dr Lael Brainard - the candidate that Mr Biden did not tap to lead the Fed - was perceived as potentially less inclined to tighten policy than incumbent Mr Powell. But the removal of some concerns over re-nomination could also allow Mr Powell himself to cut loose a little more and follow the kind of less-expansive policy that some many observers believe is warranted.
While the leadership of the US central bank is always important to markets, Mr Biden's decision takes on heightened significance this year as the Fed starts tapering its US$120 billion (S$164 billion) in monthly bond purchases.
At the same time, the Fed is confronting a historic surge of inflation as global supply chains remain disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Mr Mark Cabana, head of US interest rates strategy at Bank of America, is one observer who sees the door open to a more hawkish stance by Mr Powell.
"The announcement today should allow the Fed to pivot, to acknowledge the upside risks from inflation and they can begin to talk about how they will respond," he said on Bloomberg Television. In many ways, the Fed leadership had been "somewhat constrained in making this pivot" by the uncertainty over the nomination decision, he said.
The continuity that Mr Powell provides is also potentially a factor for the path the Federal Open Market Committee (Fomc) takes. It would have taken some time for Dr Brainard to get her feet officially under the desk, potentially delaying any shift as Mr Powell would be something of a lame duck incumbent if not renominated.
Dakota Wealth Management senior portfolio manager Robert Pavlik said that Dr Brainard taking the vice-chair role "at least puts some kind of pressure on Mr Powell to not to move too quickly with raising rates".
Dr Brainard, who was nominated to the Fed board by then President Barack Obama in 2014, is widely seen as more dovish than Mr Powell in part because of her push to retain super-easy monetary policy until there is more progress on job recovery.
A more hawkish shift could see an extension of the move that has already brought pricing of the Fed's first full quarter-point rate increase forward to June next year, and the release of this week's Fomc minutes could add extra impetus potentially too.
Analysts at NatWest said that while in a high inflation environment the difference between Mr Powell and Dr Brainard would be "basically nil", they said "it is possible one can argue a taper acceleration" is more likely next month under Mr Powell.
