U.S. Treasury Secretary BESSENT said Fed Chair KEVIN WARSH hopes to retain flexibility to achieve the best outcome.

Hong Kong June retail sales YoY 4.6% vs consensus 8.5%; May 7.9%.

Philadelphia Fed President Paulson, a 2026 FOMC voter, said bringing inflation back to 2% is his top priority and outlined two scenarios: current policy could already be sufficiently restrictive to return inflation to 2% within an acceptable timeframe, or policy may still be too loose — the strongest evidence for the latter being inflation has been above target for more than five years. He said he will judge by the accumulation of data: repeated months of improvement in inflation, business contacts reporting easing pricing and hiring pressures, tariffs, energy and AI-related pressures coming under control, and inflation expectations anchored near 2%. If core inflation remains elevated with no progress over time, tighter policy would likely be required. He said he will remain open-minded while seeking to achieve 2% inflation alongside full employment.