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The US Dollar Index rose by 0.1%. USD/JPY fell by 0.16%. EUR/USD fell by 0.1%. GBP/USD fell by 0.2%. Spot gold rose by 1.1%, and silver rose by 1.8%. The yield on the US 10-year Treasury note fell by 1.38 basis points to 4.4256%, while the two-year Treasury yield narrowed its gain to less than 0.5 basis points.

```htmlGolden Ten Data reported on June 18 that analyst Marte stated this week's meeting is the first major credibility test faced by Walsh since becoming Chairman of the Federal Reserve, with investors, policymakers, and the public watching to see whether he will defend the central bank's political independence. Although Trump has expressed hope that Walsh will remain independent when setting interest rates, he continues to hint that he would like to see borrowing costs lowered. However, some investors say that if Walsh fails to deliver a strong signal on the issue of inflation, he may risk losing control of the bond market. In April, consumer prices rose 4.2% year-on-year, the fastest pace in more than three years. If the new Federal Reserve Chairman gives the impression of trying to change the Fed's 2% inflation target threshold, this could push yields higher—which would further dampen the economy, contrary to Trump's expectations. A peace agreement between the US and Iran could ease some pressure on fuel prices, but it may take time to pass through to the consumer level.```

Golden Ten Data reported on June 18 that Apollo Global Management's Chief Economist, Torsten Slok, stated that if Waller indeed does not submit a dot plot and also foregoes economic forecasts, "that would be quite dramatic." It should be noted that these forecasts are anonymous and are submitted by members of the Federal Reserve Board and the presidents of the regional Federal Reserve Banks, totaling 19 dots. Therefore, if there are only 18 dots on the dot plot, Fed watchers would speculate that the missing one is Waller. At the press conference, he will certainly be asked to confirm this—and to explain his reasoning.