The US president Joe Biden spoke following today's early reading that showed the US economy contracted for the two quarters through June and yesterday's Federal Reserve interest rate decision and statement that has resulted in futures markets tied to Fed policy expectations tilting towards a more moderate increase for the next meeting.

Biden, says that Fed Powell and many significant banking personnel say we are not in a recession and that strong data, that prospect for passing the chips bill and other factors don't 'sound like a recession'. However, he acknowledged that growth is expected to be slower compared to last year.

Gross Domestic Product fell at a 0.9% annualized rate last quarter, the Commerce Department said in its advance estimate of GDP on Thursday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast GDP rebounding at a 0.5% rate.

While Biden and others say the US is not in a recession, the second straight quarterly decline in GDP meets the standard definition of a recession.  However, the Dow Jones Transport Average index viewed as a bellwether for health of the economy, was up 2.7%. This suggests that investors are taking a nuanced view about whether the US economy is headed for a significant downturn.

Meanwhile, the greenback has fallen since the Fed raised interest rates by 75 basis points on Wednesday, as was widely anticipated, while comments from Fed Chair Jerome Powell spurred hopes for a slower hiking path.