-Janet Yellen
On the second day of the Federal Reserve Governor's testimony on Wednesday, Janet Yellen stated that a number of risks for the US economy is still present, thus, the Fed is taking a cautious approach to the monetary policy and the interest rate hike this year in general. One of the mentioned risks was the remaining weakness in the labour market, with the bullish trend continuing to slow down, justifying the Fed's decision to postpone June's interest rate hike. Among other reasons mentioned, Janet Yellen said that business investment was low and the energy sector suffered from low oil prices for years. Nevertheless, the long-term expectations for the US economy remain advantageous, despite some arisen factors providing difficulties. Furthermore, the possible interest rate hike in July is now expected to be delayed by most economists, with the next probability shifting to September.
In the meantime, the US Existing Home Sales figures fell in line with expectations, having risen to the highest in nine years. Low mortgage rates caused the desired effect, with Home Sales up 1.8% to 5.53 million (annualized) in May, as reported by the national Association of Realtors. Apart from the mortgage rates, rising employment and stock prices improved consumer sentiment, but growing home prices could still bring the figures down.
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