FOREX-Dollar steady as Fed’s Powell says higher rates may be needed

The U.S. dollar held steady on Friday, on pace to finish the week strong, after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank may need to raise interest rates further to ensure inflation is contained, but promised to move "carefully" at upcoming meetings. Powell, in a speech at an economic summit in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, said policymakers would "proceed carefully as we decide whether to tighten further," but also made clear that the central bank has not yet concluded that its benchmark interest rate is high enough to be sure that inflation returns to the 2% target. "On balance, this is a modestly less hawkish speech than markets had feared," said Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay in Toronto.