Prices fell after the US announced stronger-than-expected job growth. The unemployment rate is also only 3.7%.
As a result, investors believe the U.S. Federal Reserve will have to wait until May 2024 to start cutting interest rates. They had previously predicted this would happen in March. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell warned on Friday that the central bank may raise interest rates further to curb inflation. Powell estimated that while inflation has improved, it remains above the Fed's "tolerable range." The Fed plans to make flexible adjustments in the short term and has not indicated any immediate monetary easing. His comments sent the dollar surging against a basket of currencies.