FOMC Chairman Powell answers a reporter’s question at the press conference. September 26, 2018. Photo courtesy of the Federal Reserve.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell has said it’s too soon to tell if the central bank will continue to raise interest rates or not. Nick Timiraos reports in The Wall Street Journal:
The Federal Reserve resumed lifting interest rates Wednesday with a quarter-percentage-point increase that will bring them to a 22-year high.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said it was too soon to tell whether the hike would conclude a series of increases aimed at cooling the economy and bringing down inflation. The central bank would decide whether to keep lifting rates based on how the economy fares in the months ahead, “with a particular focus on making progress on inflation,” he said at a news conference.
The unanimous decision to raise the benchmark federal-funds rate to a range between 5.25% and 5.5% follows a brief pause in increases last month. It marks the 11th rate rise since March 2022, when they lifted rates from near zero.
Markets were mixed after the Fed decision. The S&P 500 finished about flat Wednesday, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq moved slightly lower. The benchmark 10-year Treasury yield fell to 3.850% after climbing Tuesday to 3.911%.
At their previous meeting in June, officials held rates steady but penciled in two more increases this year. Fed officials are scheduled to meet three more times this year, with the next meeting in September.
Read more here.
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