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The Federal Reserve lifted US interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday, as widely expected.
The decision from the central bank was unanimous and took the federal funds rate range to 5.00% to 5.25%.
It was the Fed’s tenth hike to interest rates since March 2022.
At its last meeting, the Fed lifted interest rates by 25 basis points in another unanimous decision.
The central bank on Wednesday said the US banking system is ‘sound and resilient’ but noted that tighter credit conditions for households and businesses are likely to weigh on economic activity, hiring, and inflation.
‘The extent of these effects remains uncertain,’ it added.
Looking forward, the Federal Open Market Committee said it will take into account the cumulative tightening of monetary policy, the lags with which monetary policy affects economic activity and inflation, and economic and financial developments when determining the extent to which additional policy firming may be appropriate to return inflation to 2%.
A press conference with Fed Chair Jerome Powell will be at 1930 BST.
Investors will be analysing Powell’s speech for hints about where the Fed will be going in the future, and at what pace.
‘A more dovish stance than initially expected should boost appetite towards riskier assets, while another hawkish wording could significantly dent investor sentiment to stocks and send benchmarks further down,’ said Pierre Veyret, technical analyst at ActivTrades.
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