Pressure increased on the Federal Reserve on Thursday to take a stronger stand against inflation after an unexpectedly large jump in U.S. consumer prices defied hopes that sticker shock would ease and instead bolstered the view that the U.S. central bank is behind the curve.
In the hours after a government report showed consumer prices rose at their fastest pace since the early 1980s, traders piled into previously improbable bets that the Fed will start its coming round of rate hikes with a "big bang" 50 basis-point rate hike. One Fed policymaker who just last week said such a move was unnecessary said he had changed his mind. The yield on two-year Treasuries rose the most since June 5, 2009.
The massive market shift and St. Louis Fed President James Bullard's embrace of a full percentage point's worth of rate hikes over the next four months suggests an internal Fed debate over how fast and high to raise interest rates will only intensify ahead of the next rate-decision meeting on March 15-16.