"The Federal Reserve has not really discussed rate cuts; this topic is premature."

The Federal Reserve's "third in command," New York Fed Chairman Williams, stated on Friday that rate cuts are not currently a topic of discussion within the Federal Reserve, and there has not been a genuine discussion about rate cuts. He expressed:

"We are not talking about rate cuts right now. We are very focused on the issues in front of us, as Chairman Powell said... Is our monetary policy taking a sufficiently restrictive stance to ensure that inflation rates fall back to 2%? That is the issue in front of us."

As Williams made these hawkish remarks, gold prices plunged by $17 at one point, but have since rebounded.

Following Thursday's dramatic dovish shift by Federal Reserve Chairman Powell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average soared to a record level this week, and the yield on the 10-year U.S. Treasury note fell below 4.3%. Traders believe that the Federal Reserve expects to cut rates three times next year, indicating that the central bank is changing its tough stance, and the start of rate cuts next year will be earlier than expected.

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According to federal funds futures, traders also bet that the Federal Reserve will cut rates more than three times next year. The futures market also shows that the Federal Reserve could start cutting rates as early as next March. When asked about market pricing, Williams said, "I think it's too early to consider this issue now; if necessary, we will raise rates again."

The Federal Reserve's "third in command" added that the Federal Reserve will continue to rely on data and is prepared to tighten policy again if the trend of slowing inflation reverses.

On Thursday, the Federal Reserve kept the key interest rate unchanged for the third consecutive time, and its published forecast showed that by the end of 2024, the Federal Reserve will lower the interest rate to a median of 4.6%, which means it will cut rates three times next year, each by 25 basis points.

He said, "It seems that we have reached or are close to this limit, but the situation may change. One thing we have learned in the past year is that data can change in surprising ways; if the progress of inflation stagnates or reverses, we need to be prepared to tighten policy further.""Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos pointed out that Williams' remarks indicate that the Federal Reserve is concerned about whether it has done enough in terms of raising interest rates, which is clearly a rebuttal to the easing atmosphere at the Fed's press conference on Thursday. Lowering interest rates is "not a topic of discussion for what we are going to do."

The Federal Reserve expects its preferred inflation indicator, the core PCE price index, to fall to 2.4% by 2024, further to 2.2% by 2025, and ultimately reach the 2% target by 2026. The index rose by 3.5% year-on-year in October. Williams stated:

"We will definitely see a slowdown in inflation. Monetary policy is working as expected, and we must ensure that inflation continues to rise back to 2%."