Welcome to Seeking Alpha's Wall Street Lunch, our afternoon update on today's market action, news, and analysis.

Good afternoon. Today is Tuesday, June 24th, and I'm your host, Kim Kahn. Our top story so far,

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell reiterated that the FOMC won't rush to cut interest rates,

as officials wait to see how

President Donald Trump's tariffs shake out. In his opening statement to the House Financial Services

Committee, Powell said, for the time being, we are well positioned to wait and learn more about the

likely course of the economy before considering any adjustments to our policy stance. He noted

the effects of tariffs will depend, among other things,

on their ultimate level. Mirroring comments he made last week, the Fed Chief said the impact of tariffs

on inflation could be temporary or may be more persistent, depending on the size of the tariff effects,

on how long it takes for them to pass through fully into prices, and ultimately on keeping

longer-term

inflation expectations well anchored. Expectations of that level, and thus the related economic

effects, reached a peak in April and has since declined, he said. Even so, increases in tariffs

this year are likely to push up prices and weigh on economic activity. Also today, Cleveland

Fed President Beth Hammock had some hawkish comments to counter the recent

Dovish Fed speak we've seen.

In a speech at the Barclay CEPR Monetary Policy Forum in London,

Hammack said that she doesn't see the U.S. economy weakening enough to, quote,

merit imminent rate cuts, but she remains a tentative to that possibility.

Looking ahead, if both sides of our mandate come under pressure,

then holding the policy rate steady for some time may be the best choice to balance the risks coming from further elevated inflation

...