U.S. Federal Reserve Expected To Hold Interest Rates Steady

The U.S. Federal Reserve is widely expected to keep interest rates at current levels when it concludes its latest policy meeting later today (June 18).

Futures traders are placing the odds of a 0.25% rate cut from the Fed at only 0.2%.

Wall Street doesn’t expect the U.S. central bank to resume cutting interest rates until September of this year, at the earliest.

However, a growing number of economists and analysts say they don’t expect rates to be lowered until October.

Investment bank Goldman Sachs (GS) said in recent days that the Fed isn’t likely to cut rates until December of this year.

While the central bank is expected to stand pat on interest rates, it is also releasing its latest projections for the U.S. economy at the conclusion of its June 18 meeting.

The updated outlook could move the stock market, depending on whether the Fed is dovish or hawkish on the American economy.

Economists say the biggest thing to watch coming out of the latest meeting will be whether the Fed sticks with its previous forecast of two interest rate cuts this year.

Markets will also likely respond to any changes in the Fed’s outlook on inflation.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell will address the media and take questions at the meeting’s conclusion and he is almost certainly to be asked about U.S. President Donald Trump’s attacks on him.

In recent weeks, Trump has publicly insulted Powell for not lowering interest rates, calling the central banker a “loser” and a “numbskull.”

Trump has also threatened to fire Powell, a move most on Wall Street agree would send the stock market into a tailspin.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s latest interest rate decision will be released at 2 p.m. Eastern time.