As was widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve held its target policy rate range steady at this week's meeting. While the Fed did announce a small change to the interest it pays on excess reserves, this was simply fine-tuning the transmission of monetary policy to broader money markets and the economy. Also as expected, the Fed made only limited changes to the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee) statement to reflect changes in economic data.
With limited changes to the Fed statement and no change in rates, attention turned to Chairman Powell's press conference to provide