In a statement released on Friday, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President Beth Hammack noted that she dissented because the data supported holding the policy rate steady, per Reuters.
In an interview with Bloomberg on Friday, San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said that she thinks the policy is in a good place.
The Fed delivered a ‘hawkish’ cut yesterday that was a tad more hawkish than the markets were prepared for. Along with the expected 1/4-point cut, the dot plot shifted higher, reflecting only two anticipated cuts next year and a higher median long run rate (3%).
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it lowered the policy rate, federal funds rate, by 25 basis points to the range of 4.25%-4.5% following the December meeting.
In line with market expectations, the Federal Reserve lowered its Fed Funds Target Range (FFTR) by 25 basis points at its meeting on Thursday. This decision comes after a 50 basis point cut at the September 18 meeting.
The US Federal Reserve (Fed) announced on Wednesday that it lowered the policy rate, federal funds rate, by 50 basis points to the range of 4.75%-5% following the September policy meeting. Although the market forecast was for a 25 bps rate cut, there were growing expectations for a 50 bps reduction.
EUR/USD stays under bearish pressure and trades at its lowest level since December 2022 below 1.0350 on Thursday. The pair turned south amid a resurgent US Dollar demand and worsening market mood. Investors stay cautious at the onset of 2025, awaiting the US jobs data for fresh incentives.
Following an earlier recovery attempt, GBP/USD reversed its direction and declined to its weakest level in nearly eight months below 1.2450. The renewed US Dollar (USD) strength on worsening risk mood weighs on the pair as markets await mid-tier data releases.
Money managers may adjust their portfolios ahead of the year-end. Weekly US Jobless Claims serve as the first meaningful release in 2025. The ISM Manufacturing PMI provides an initial indication ahead of Nonfarm Payrolls.
Gold price rises for the third consecutive session on Thursday, following a more than 27% increase in 2024, marking its best performance since 2010. This upward momentum has been driven by US monetary easing, persistent geopolitical tensions, and record central bank purchases.
Crypto majors zoomed higher in the past 24 hours as the market entered a widely expected bullish year, with Bitcoin inching above $95,000 to shake off losses from last week. XRP surged 11% to lead growth among majors as of Thursday, led by $1.3 billion worth of trading volumes on Korea-focused exchange UpBit.
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.
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
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.
