US central banks signals shift to slower interest rate increases

The head of the US central bank has said authorities may start to ease its pace of interest rate hikes "as soon as" December, after racing to raise borrowing costs earlier this year. 

He added that the full effects of the bank's moves are yet to be felt, but also warned that its policy will likely have to remain tight "for some time" to restore price stability.

Following Powell's remarks, US stocks rallied, with the tech-rich Nasdaq Composite Index surging more than three percent.

The central bank has raised the benchmark lending rate by 0.75 percentage points four consecutive times in recent months, out of six rate hikes this year in an aggressive effort to rein in prices.

The latest increase in November took the benchmark lending rate to 3.75-4.0 percent, the highest since January 2008.