U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell calls rate cut speculation 'premature'

It is still "premature" to speculate on when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start cutting interest rates despite the bank's recent progress on inflation, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Friday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has taken aggressive action to tackle runaway inflation, and has successfully slowed the rate at which prices have been increasing this year.

Nevertheless, the Fed's decision to lift its benchmark lending rate to a 22-year high and hold it there has so far failed to bring...