FOMC Interest rate decision (Fed) | News & Analysis

Fed leaves door open to rate cuts, but in no rush to do it

LATEST FED MEASURES TO BATTLE INFLATION

Fed's Powell: Restrictive policy needs further time to work

By Pablo Piovano |

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.

Fed’s Bostic: Rate cuts are likely by year end

By Pablo Piovano |

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.

FED Latest News

FED Latest Analysis

APRIL decision review

Breaking: FOMC Minutes show concerns over inflation persist

By FXStreet Team |

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.

March decision review

January decision review

December decision review

November decision review

Top Broker

Related Content

Editors' Picks

EUR/USD stays depressed near 1.0650, awaits US data and Fed verdict

EUR/USD stays depressed near 1.0650, awaits US data and Fed verdict

EUR/USD holds lower ground near 1.0650 amid a softer risk tone and broad US Dollar strength on Wednesday. With European markets closed for Labor Day, the pair awaits the US employment data and the Fed policy announcements for the next directional move. 

EUR/USD News

GBP/USD keeps losses below 1.2500 ahead of US data, Fed

GBP/USD keeps losses below 1.2500 ahead of US data, Fed

GBP/USD holds lower ground below 1.2500 early Wednesday. The stronger US Dollar supports the downtick of the pair amid the cautious mood ahead of the top-tier US employment data and the all-important Fed policy announcements. 

GBP/USD News

Federal Reserve meeting preview: The stock market expects the worst

Federal Reserve meeting preview: The stock market expects the worst

US stocks are a sea of red on Tuesday as a mixture of fundamental data and jitters ahead of the Fed meeting knock risk sentiment. The economic backdrop to this meeting is not ideal for stock market bulls. 

Read more

Gold sellers keep sight on $2,223 and the Fed decision

Gold sellers keep sight on $2,223 and the Fed decision

Gold price is catching a breather early Wednesday, having hit a four-week low at $2,285 on Tuesday. Traders refrain from placing fresh directional bets on Gold price, anticipating the all-important US Federal Reserve interest rate decision due later in the day.

Gold News

Ethereum dips below key level as Hong Kong ETFs underperform

Ethereum dips below key level as Hong Kong ETFs underperform

Ethereum experienced a further decline on Tuesday following a disappointing first-day trading volume for Hong Kong's spot Bitcoin and ETH ETFs. This comes off the back of increased long liquidations and mixed whale activity surrounding the top altcoin.

Read more

Majors

Cryptocurrencies

Signatures

Big Picture

What's important about Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting?

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.

What is the Fed?

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

How to trade the event?

  • Do not rely on the Fed to determine the direction of the dollar in the coming months.
  • The dollar tends to follow its predominant trend when the Fed starts to hike rates.
  • There is no direct link between the Fed hiking rates and the usd falling. When a weak usd has coincided with a Fed hiking cycle, it has been falling for some time.
  • Due to this, we may see a muted reaction to a potential Fed rate hike.

WHO IS FOMC'S CHAIRMAN?

Jerome Powell

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

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.