Coupled with the comments of other Fed officials in recent days, and looking ahead to remarks by Fed Chair Janet Yellen on Friday, Brainard's comments will likely help cement sentiment that the Fed will raise rates in two weeks. New York Fed President William Dudley said on Tuesday that the case for a rate hike has become "a lot more compelling" and San Francisco Fed President John Williams said a rate hike would be seriously considered at the March meeting and that he sees no reason to delay. Policymaker forecasts after the Fed's December 2015 rate hike pointed to four more rate hikes in 2016. US stocks touched new record highs on Wednesday as talk of a pending rate hike overshadowed Trump's address to Congress on Tuesday night. The cost for banks to borrow funds surged by the most since December 2015, when the Fed lifted rates from near zero.

Source: The Edge Markets March 02, 2017 00:00 UTC