No rate-hike - expected.
Data-dependent - confirmed.
Hawkish (tightening) bias - more than expected.
So, all Fed Chair Powell has to do is walk this high-wire between The Fed "being done" and The Fed "ready to cut"...which is very much what the Dot-Plot did.
The question is - will Powell attempt to talk that down? He has pushed back against the dots before when it suits him.
The market has already started accepting this fate...
...so Powell could give it a nudge closer to the Dot-Plot's hawkish reality with his comments.
Watch the full press conference live here (due to start at 1430ET):
