On June 18, Federal Reserve officials hinted on Wednesday local time that they may need to raise interest rates soon rather than cut them, marking a sharp shift in thinking amid rapidly rising inflation.

Evercore ISI analyst Krishna Guhar said that falling energy prices could bring some relief in the coming months. But he warned that the outlook for interest rates has decoupled from oil prices, indicating deeper uncertainty about whether underlying inflation will cool enough to prevent the Fed from ultimately raising rates. Guhar stated that, aside from energy, two other pressures remain: the ongoing pass-through effects of tariffs and cost spillovers from the surge in artificial intelligence infrastructure investments.

Claudia Sam, chief economist at New Century Advisors and a former Fed economist, said she has not yet seen the conditions that typically prompt the Fed to respond to supply-driven inflation, such as an overheated labor market or unanchored inflation expectations. But she acknowledged that the case for action is building. "I understand the view that the Fed should be prepared to step in and raise rates if conditions worsen," she said. The Fed may act faster than during the pandemic inflation surge because "they are already having this debate."#我的Gate交易时刻