The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it left the policy rate, federal funds rate, unchanged at the range of 5.25%-5.5% following the April 30 - May 1 meeting. This decision came in line with the market expectation.
Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell participates in a fireside chat about economic trends in North America at the Wilson Center’s Washington Forum in Washington, DC. Powell said that the U.S. economy's performance has been quite robust. He added that recent data indicates a lack of significant progress on inflation this year. Despite ongoing strength, Powell noted that the labour market is transitioning towards a better equilibrium.
Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee argued on Friday that it would make sense to wait to get more clarity on the inflation outlook before taking a policy step.
Speaking at the Greater Fort Lauderdale Alliance in Florida on Thursday, Atlanta Federal Reserve Bank President Raphael Bostic noted that U.S. inflation is anticipated to return to 2% at a slower pace than many had anticipated.
During the FOMC Minutes, participants expressed general uncertainty about the persistence of elevated inflation and indicated that recent data did not increase their confidence in inflation trending sustainably towards the 2% target. In addition, officials deliberated over whether the greater risk lies in monetary policy remaining overly restrictive for an extended period or in the Fed easing prematurely and failing to achieve the 2% inflation target.
Party in the USA – for stock markets, gold, everything except the US Dollar. Not only has the Federal Reserve (Fed) left interest rates unchanged, but it has also refrained from changing the median forecast for borrowing costs in 2024.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it left the policy rate, federal funds rate, unchanged at the range of 5.25%-5.5% following the March meeting. This decision came in line with the market expectation.
Markets do not like uncertainty – or the lack of confidence, which the Federal Reserve (Fed) has expressed. A deeper look at the bank's pushback reveals its weakness and could trigger a reversal.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it left the policy rate, federal funds rate, unchanged at the range of 5.25%-5.5% following the January policy meeting. This decision came in line with the market expectation.
EUR/USD lost its traction and declined below 1.0700 after spending the first half of the day in a tight channel. The US Dollar extends its recovery following the strong Unit Labor Costs data and weighs on the pair ahead of Friday's jobs report.
GBP/USD turned south and dropped below 1.2500 in the American session on Thursday. The US Dollar continues to push higher following the Fed-inspired decline on Wednesday and doesn't allow the pair to regain its traction.
Apple is due to report Q1 results today after the bell. Expectations are soft given that Apple’s Chinese business got a major hit in Q1 as competitors increased their market share against the giant Apple.
Gold extended its daily slide and dropped below $2,290 in the second half of the day on Thursday. The benchmark 10-year US Treasury bond yield erased its daily losses after US data, causing XAU/USD to stretch lower ahead of Friday's US jobs data.
Bitcoin reclaiming above $59,200 would hint that BTC has already bottomed out, setting the tone for a run north. Ethereum holding above $2,900 keeps a bullish reversal pattern viable despite falling momentum. Ripple coils up for a move north as XRP bulls defend $0.5000.
With a pre-set regularity, a nation's Central Bank has an economic policy meeting, in which board members took different measures, the most relevant one, being the interest rate that it will charge on loans and advances to commercial banks.
In the US, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve (FED) meets at intervals of five to eight weeks, in which they announce their latest decisions. A rate hike tends to boost the local currency, as it is understood as a sign of a healthy inflation. A rate cut, on the other hand, is seen as a sign of economic and inflationary woes and, therefore, tends to weaken the local currency.
If rates remain unchanged, attention and also main news and analysis turn to the tone of the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) statement, and whether the tone is hawkish, or dovish over future developments of inflation.
The Federal Reserve System (Fed) is the central banking system of the United States and it has two main targets or reasons to be: one is to keep unemployment rate to their lowest possible levels and the other one, to keep inflation around 2%. The Federal Reserve System's structure is composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors, partially presidentially appointed Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC organizes 8 meetings in a year and reviews economic and financial conditions. Also determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy and assesses the risks to its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth. FOMC Minutes are released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve and are a clear guide to the future US interest rate policy.
Fed official website, on Twitter and Facebook
Jerome Powell
Jerome Powell took office as chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System in
February 2018, for a four-year term ending in February 2022. His term as a member of the Board of Governors will
expire January 31,
2028. Born in Washington D.C., he received a bachelor’s degree in politics from Princeton University in 1975 and
earned a law degree from Georgetown University in 1979. Powell served as an assistant secretary and as
undersecretary of the Treasury
under President George H.W. Bush. He also worked as a lawyer and investment banker in New York City. From 1997
through 2005, Powell was a partner at The Carlyle Group.
Jerome Powell Fed's Profile and Wikipedia
The World Interest Rates Table reflects the current interest rates of the main countries around the world, set by their respective Central Banks. Rates typically reflect the health of individual economies, as in a perfect scenario, Central Banks tend to rise rates when the economy is growing and therefore instigate inflation.
