Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said that if the Fed raises its benchmark rate above the neutral rate and keeps it there, inflation should ease from where it is now. "If we raise rates by 50 basis points or 75 basis points on top of that, then this kind of economic restraint monetary policy should help keep inflation down," Evans said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Michael McKee on Wednesday. "We don't have to keep raising the federal funds rate to a level that depresses the economy. We can watch for a while after that," he said. Fed officials are rapidly raising interest rates to combat inflation, which has risen to a 40-year high in recent months. According to data released by the Labor Department on May 11, the U.S. CPI rose 8.3% year-on-year in April. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday reiterated expectations that the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) could raise interest rates by 50 basis points each at its June and July meetings.

Pressure on global supply chains rose in April for the first time this year, and geopolitical tensions could further exacerbate logistical bottlenecks in the near term, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said. The New York Fed's announcement on Wednesday said the global supply chain stress index rose to 3.29 in April from 2.8 in March. In December, the index hit a high of 4.45. The index contains 27 variables, covering everything from cross-border transportation costs to manufacturing data in some major economies. The main reasons for the aggravation of the problem include the slowdown in delivery caused by China's epidemic prevention and control, the Russian-Ukrainian war that has damaged European supply chains, prolonged delivery times in the euro area, and increased air freight costs from the United States to Asia. The backlog of orders in the UK is also seen as adding to global supply pressures.

The U.S. is in the midst of its largest-ever probe into secret messaging on platforms such as WhatsApp, with authorities forcing Wall Street to systematically check more than 100 private phones carried by top traders and bankers. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been sending banks a list of key jobs to examine, and in some cases about 30 people, including the heads of specific investment banking teams or trading departments, according to people familiar with the matter. Those in these positions were ordered to hand over their cell phones for lawyers to examine. The move is intended to assess how common Wall Street professionals are using unauthorized messaging platforms to chat with each other or with clients. Regulators are figuring out which agencies to impose and how much to impose penalties for failing to protect business-related information sent through unsanctioned platforms. Financial institutions including Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, HSBC Holdings and Credit Suisse have said they are cooperating with U.S. authorities in their probe into the messaging app, but it was unclear whether all were checking phones.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Yellen confirmed that the U.S. was unlikely to extend a waiver that would allow Russia to pay bonds to U.S. creditors. Referring to the waiver, which will expire on May 25, Yellen said, "When we first imposed sanctions on Russia, we issued a waiver that allowed for an orderly transition period to allow for To allow investors to sell securities, our expectation is that there will be a time limit to this waiver.” Yellen told a news conference in Bonn, Germany, that no final decision had been made, but there was reason to believe that the expiry of the waiver would end. A day earlier, the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control did not expect to extend the temporary waiver after it expires on May 25, Bloomberg News reported. Yellen's remarks show that she doesn't think allowing Russia to default on its dollar debt poses a major danger. She told U.S. lawmakers last week that the Treasury Department was "actively" examining whether the waivers should be extended. She said at the time, “We want to make sure we understand the consequences and potential impact of a Russian default if the waivers are allowed to expire.”

ECB Governing Council member Madis Muller said he would support a 25 basis point rate hike in July. His remarks also mean that more and more of the bank's policymakers are targeting July when the benchmark interest rate is raised from a record low. Muller, one of the ECB's more hawkish policymakers, said the latest inflation dynamics meant it was "reasonable" to end asset purchases at the start of the third quarter. That could mean "a possible rate hike in July," he told Bloomberg News in Tallinn on Wednesday. "I personally think it's reasonable." Muller is also the governor of Estonia's central bank. He said he supported a "gradual" normalization of monetary policy, which for now means raising rates by 25 basis points. He said he "wouldn't be surprised" if deposit rates crossed zero by the end of the year.

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