Federal Reserve officials could shed light on how many policymakers saw the case for a larger interest-rate increase at their last meeting and whether they anticipated the need to take rates higher than previously thought to tame persistently high inflation.

US central bankers will publish minutes at 2 p.m. Wednesday of their Jan. 31-Feb. 1 gathering, at which they voted unanimously to raise rates by just a quarter percentage point. That was a moderation from their half-point hike in December after four consecutive jumbo-sized 75 basis-point increases.

The Fed’s policy statement on Feb. 1 said the “extent of future increases” in rates will depend on a number of factors including cumulative tightening of monetary policy, wording Fed watchers viewed as a signal the central bank may stick with 25 basis-point moves as it approaches the end of its tightening campaign. (BBG - Continue Reading) 

The White House is eyeing three former Obama administration Treasury officials as potential nominees for Federal Reserve vice chair, according to an Evercore ISI analyst with past ties to President Joe Biden.

In the hunt for Lael Brainard’s successor, the White House is “focusing in” on Harvard University professor Karen Dynan, Northwestern University finance professor Janice Eberly and Morgan Stanley Chief Global Economist Seth Carpenter, according to a research note Tuesday from Tobin Marcus, an Evercore analyst who advised Biden on economic policy when he was vice president.

“Of these, we believe Dynan and Eberly are the most likely. We would view either as a continuity pick, replacing Brainard with another respected economist who is well-known in Democratic policymaking circles,” Marcus wrote. (BBG - Continue Reading) 

German managers are set to voice more optimism about their prospects for a fifth straight month and thus buttress the growing opinion among analysts that any recession in Europe’s largest economy should be minor and short-lived.

Economists said the headline business climate index for Germany due Wednesday from the country’s Ifo economics institute is expected to rise to 91.2 points this month from the January reading of 90.2, which would be the fifth consecutive improvement.

The expectations component of the index – a measure of the coming six months – is forecast higher at 88.4 versus the 86.4 mark set in January, which would also mark a fifth straight increase. This month’s current assessment reading is expected to grow to 95.0 after an unexpected dip to 94.1 in January. (LiveSquawk - Continue Reading)