FOMC Interest rate decision (Fed) | News & Analysis
Fed's Powell: Our two goals are a bit in tension
At the usual post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell explained why policymakers decided to lower the Federal Funds Target Range (FFTR) to 3.50%–3.75% after the December meeting and took questions from reporters about the move.
Fed projects only 50 bps of additional rate cuts between 2026 and 2027; lifts GDP forecasts
The Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) latest dot plot, released on Wednesday, indicates that interest rates will average 3.4% by the end of 2026, in line with the September projection.
Fed's Powell: Labour market has significant downside risks
"The end of the government shutdown informs projections of a swing to higher growth next year. Implication of Fed forecasts is higher productivity. Our two goals are a bit in tension."
FED Latest News
FED Latest Analysis
Related Content
Editors' Picks
When is the UK labor market report and how could it affect GBP/USD?
The UK Office for National Statistics will publish its labor market report at 07.00 GMT. GBP/USD trades in negative territory on the day in the lead up to the UK employment data. The pair loses ground as traders turn cautious ahead of the key US economic data, including Nonfarm Payrolls, Retail Sales, and Purchasing Managers Index.
EUR/USD keeps range near 1.1750 ahead of German/ EU PMI data
EUR/USD maintains its range trade at around 1.1750 in European trading on Tuesday. The pair's volatility remains low, with investors awaiting a bunch of top-tier economic data releases from Germany, Eurozone and the US. The immediate focus is on the German and Eurozone preliminary PMI data.
NFP preview: Complex data release will determine if Fed was right to cut rates
The long wait is over, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the US will release nonfarm payrolls reports for both November and October at 1330 GMT on Tuesday. The overall NFP figure for October is expected to be -10k, however, it is expected to be influenced by a massive 130k drop in federal department workers.
Gold bulls move to the sidelines ahead of delayed US NFP report
Gold attracts some sellers during the Asian session on Tuesday and extends the overnight pullback from the $4,350 region, or the vicinity of the highest level since October 21, touched last week. The intraday downtick comes amid optimism over the Russia-Ukraine peace deal, which is seen undermining demand for the traditional safe-haven commodity.
Sui Price Forecast: Sui slips below $1.50 as network demand and risk appetite wane
Sui remains under intense bearish pressure, extending losses by 1% at press time on Tuesday for the third straight day.
Majors
Cryptocurrencies
Signatures
Big Picture
What's important about the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy meeting?
With a pre-set regularity, a nation's central bank holds a monetary policy meeting where board members take different measures, the most relevant one setting the range of the federal funds rate, which greatly influences the interest rate charge on loans and advances to commercial banks.
In the US, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the Federal Reserve (Fed) meets at intervals of five to eight weeks to announce their latest decisions. An interest-rate hike increases borrowing costs throughout the economy. This results in a stronger US Dollar (USD) as it makes the US a more attractive place for international investors. A rate cut, on the other hand, tends to weaken the USD.
If rates remain unchanged, the attention, main news and analysis turn to the tone of the monetary policy statement and the press conference from the Fed’s Chair. Markets analyze whether the tone is hawkish or dovish over future developments of inflation.
What is the Fed?
The Federal Reserve (Fed) is the central bank of the United States (US) and it has two main targets: to maintain the unemployment rate at its lowest possible levels and to keep inflation around 2%. The Federal Reserve System's structure is composed of the presidentially appointed Board of Governors and the partially appointed Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The FOMC organizes eight scheduled meetings in a year to review economic and financial conditions. It also determines the appropriate stance of monetary policy and assesses the risks to its long-run goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth. The FOMC Minutes, which are released by the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve weeks after the latest meeting, are a guide to the future US interest-rate policy.
Fed official website, on X 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 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.