1) Fed is more hawkish on cutting bonds buying, December minutes show
The Federal Reserve plans to start reducing the amount of bonds holding, according to the minutes from its December meeting released Wednesday. Even though the minutes did not specify the timeline for cutting the nearly $8.3 trillion in Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities the Fed is holding, the market expected the process to begin in the next few months in 2022. The market is now pricing in an 80% possibility of a rate hike in March, which would result in a reduction of balance sheet could start before summer.
2) Nasdaq plunged 3.3% amid hawkish Fed on cutting bonds buying
Wall Street closed lower last night from tech selloff as the Fed expressed hawkish moves on aggressively cutting bonds buying in the next few months. Dow Jones closed 1.07% lower, S&P 500 dropped 1.94% and Nasdaq plunged 3.34%.
3) Fauci says omicron less severe than delta, citing preliminary studies
Dr. Anthony Fauci, White House chief medical advisor, said that according to multiple preliminary studies the Covid-19 omicron variant is less severe than the delta strain, but warned that hospitals could still face pressure through rising numbers of new infections that have been accelerated in the U.S.
