Election forces change in 2024 Fed meeting schedule

Election forces change in 2024 Fed meeting schedule
When it comes to meetings, the Federal Reserve likes to stick to a schedule: Eight two-day meetings a year, six weeks apart except on two occasions, always on Tuesday and Wednesday, with minutes to be released three weeks after the meetings.
In 2024, though, there’s a little matter that’s going to get in the way of that for the November session.
The presidential election, to be held Nov. 5, is forcing the central bank to push its meeting to Nov. 6-7, meaning a rare Wednesday-Thursday gathering. The Fed has done so in other years when there have been conflicts with elections, primarily so that staff members and officials traveling from other districts don’t have to vote via absentee ballot.
Here’s the full-year schedule: Jan. 30-31, March 19-20, April 30-May 1, June 11-12, July 30-31, Sept. 17-18, Nov. 6-7, Dec. 17-18. The first meeting of 2025 will be held Jan. 28-29. $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$