High Inflation in the United States Pushes Investors to Expect More Rate Hikes

January’s US inflation reading came in even higher than our above-consensus forecast, and as a result, the next Federal Reserve (Fed) meeting, on March 16, will be nail-biting. Markets have moved to discount elevated odds of a 50-basis point rate hike. And on Thursday, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard added fuel to the fire by calling for a supersized rate hike this year.