Summary
- Goldman Sachs said a September Federal Reserve interest-rate increase is “very unlikely.”
- The banks chief economist, Jan Hatzius, said inflation is likely to keep improving, and current market expectations for the federal funds target rate remain too hawkish.
- Bitcoin is trading around $63,600, up about 1% today.
“Very unlikely.”
That's how Goldman Sachs described the chances of a September Federal Reserve interest-rate increase, which provides a potential major tailwind for bitcoin , which has traded in a narrow range since early July.
The cryptocurrency is currently priced around $63,500, a 1% gain since midnight UTC. The price has remained firmly locked within the $62,000–$66,000 range that has been in play for over a month.
Goldman lowered the odds in response to a string of soft economic data, specifically retail sales, a key barometer of consumption, and employment figures alongside slowing inflation, Chief Economist Jan Hatzius told clients, according to Bloomberg.
“Under our baseline economic forecasts, the inflation news is more likely to improve further than to deteriorate anew as the year progresses,” Hatzius wrote in a note Sunday. “We still think market pricing for the funds rate is too hawkish.”