Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh Warns of Rate Hikes

U.S. stock markets ended the week mixed on Friday, August 28, 2026, with the NASDAQ Composite leading losses with a 138.93-point drop. The decline followed warnings from Kevin Warsh, Chair of the Federal Reserve, regarding the stickiness of inflation.

Speaking at the annual Jackson Hole economic symposium, Warsh indicated that interest rate hikes remain a possibility. He stated that the Federal Reserve must be confident that underlying inflation is moving toward its objective at sufficient speed. While the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average also closed lower on Friday, all three major indexes maintained modest gains for the overall week.

Global markets showed divergent results, as European indexes recorded gains while Canadian equities fell sharply and Asian markets remained subdued. In currency markets, the U.S. dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, which reached the 160.00 level. This shift reflects diverging monetary policy expectations between the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Japan.