WASHINGTON: The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday as policymakers took heart in continued U.S. job gains and economic growth and held out hope that weak inflation will edge higher.
At its two-day meeting, the Fed also trimmed the amount of interest it pays banks on excess reserves to 2.35 percent from 2.40 percent in an effort to ensure its key overnight lending rate, the federal funds rate, remains within the current target band. The most recent data showed inflation running at around a 1.5 percent annualized rate, which would be a problem if it meant that households and businesses had doubts about the economy's strength and were less willing to spend and invest.Between that and a weaker global economy, the Fed reiterated it would be"patient" in deciding on any further changes to its overnight benchmark lending rate, which it left in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.50 percent.
The yield on 2-year Treasury notes, which moves in the opposite direction of its price, dropped to the lowest since late March at around 2.21 percent. U.S. stocks edged higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 Index up 0.2 percent on the session, and the dollar weakened against the euro.
Source: Financial Digest (financialdigest.net)
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