The Fed pauses rate hikes, but US stocks fall!

The Fed once again keeps rates unchanged, but Powell leaves open the possibility of further rate hikes in his speech, and US stocks subsequently decline.

On September 20th local time, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced the latest interest rate decision, maintaining the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25% to 5.5%, unchanged as expected. This is the second time, after June this year, that there has been no continuation of the previous meeting's rate hike.

However, the dot plot shows that most FOMC members expect another rate hike later this year, and the Fed has raised its rate expectations for the next two years, signaling that higher rates will be maintained for longer.

Powell stated at the press conference that, given the progress the Fed has made, the FOMC decided to keep the rates unchanged this time. However, keeping the rates unchanged does not mean that the Fed has achieved the restrictive stance sought by the institution, as the Fed has not made a decision on whether the rates are sufficiently restrictive. The Fed is prepared to further raise rates when appropriate until it can be sure that inflation is steadily declining towards the 2% target.