In order to control soaring inflation, the Federal Reserve couldn't sit still and raised interest rates twice in two months.
In the early morning of Thursday, July 28, Beijing time, the Federal Reserve announced that it would raise the federal funds rate by 75 basis points to a range of 2.25% to 2.50%, in line with market expectations. This is the second consecutive interest rate hike of 75 basis points by the Federal Reserve and the fourth interest rate hike in the year, making the cumulative rate hike of its interest rate resolutions in June and July reach 150 basis points, which is the largest continuous rate hike since the period of former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker in the early 1980s.
This obvious rapid interest rate hike may slow economic growth, but Federal Reserve Chairman Powell and other senior officials insist that inflation will fall back to the annual target of 2% at all costs. He also admitted that the Federal Reserve has little ability to reduce food and energy prices, but will continue to raise interest rates if inflation does not improve.
After Powell's speech, risky assets began to soar. In addition, EIA data showed that crude oil storage fell sharply last week, and the natural gas flow through Beixi No. 1 pipeline fell to 20% of the total transportation capacity of the pipeline on Wednesday, continuing to create a tense situation of energy supply in Europe, which stimulated the market's enthusiasm for bullishness. After the data was released, the oil price changed the intraday sawing trend that was hesitant before, rose sharply by 2%, driving the domestic futures to be red across the board!
In addition, although traders believe that there is still room for weakness in the spot crude oil market next month, Saudi Arabia, opec+ leader, may still raise the price of its flagship crude oil to Asia in September by $1.5 / barrel. It is expected that the price of its flagship crude oil exported to Asia in September will show a record price difference compared with the oil price in the Arab region, and the market may have an inflection point.
