Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Wednesday that the central bank does not intend to go through with any rate cuts before it sees "real" progress on inflation or weakness in the labour market.

He noted that the economy is progressing toward the Fed’s 2% inflation target while going for maximum employment. When asked about the bank's decision to remove the reference to inflation making progress toward the 2% objective from the statement, Powell stated that "the move was not meant to send a signal."

The Fed chair further underscored that the labour conditions have been mostly stable over the past six months, concluding that it proves the "policy is well positioned." He emphasized that inflation reports for November and December marked two "good readings" in a row, but warned against reading too much into it.