Rick Rieder is BlackRock's chief investment officer of global fixed income.

Recently he reiterated his call for two Federal Reserve rate cuts this year:

Dow Jones / Market Watch (gated) carried remarks from Rieder on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting today. In brief:

  • "core services inflation is just too high"
  • How Powell addresses the potential for rate hikes to deal with sticky inflation will be important, because the market will likely react to that "big question," Rieder told MarketWatch.
  • Should Powell sound "hawkish" on Wednesday, the stock market would probably trade down against the backdrop of a jump in Treasury yields
  • Rieder said his sense is that Powell doesn't want to raise rates further.
  • In Rieder's view, the market has gone ... too far in ... in thinking the Fed might not cut rates at all in 2024. "If the data allows them, I still think [the Fed would] like to get a cut or two in this year," Rieder said.
blackrock rieder

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The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC)'s policy decision will be released on Wednesday May 1 at 2 pm US EDT (1800 GMT) with Fed Chair Jerome Powell following up with his press conference at 2:30 pm (1830 GMT).

Earlier previews: