Fed chair Warsh’s hawkish Jackson Hole turn favours soaring banks over struggling S-Reits

[SINGAPORE] In the end, market watchers seemed to interpret US Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh’s much-awaited speech on Friday (Aug 28) as a curtain-raiser for a September rate hike.

This was somewhat ironic, given his reluctance to provide any forward guidance on the Fed’s rate moves, but it was arguably a positive outcome for the markets in the short term.

Much could now depend on whether the Fed follows through, and leaves the market with no doubt that it is committed to keeping a lid on US inflation.