Fed raises key interest rate

AFP, WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point as expected, citing an improving economy with one month to go before President-elect Donald Trump takes office.
The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the key federal funds rate to a range of 0.5 to 0.75 per cent, but repeated that the world’s biggest economy likely will require only “gradual” rate increases going forward.
Fed chair Janet Yellen said the rate hike can be seen as a “vote of confidence” in the economy. The rate increase from the previous range of 0.25 to 0.5 per cent is the first hike since December 2015 and only the second in a decade.
The move “should certainly be understood as a reflection of the confidence we have in the progress that the economy has made and our judgment that that progress will continue,” Yellen told a press conference following the meeting.
“And the economy has proven to be remarkably resilient, so it is a vote of confidence in the economy.”
After rallying consistently and hitting multiple new records since Trump’s election on November 8, putting the Dow within striking distance of the 20,000-point mark, US stocks fell in the wake of the Fed announcement.

Fed raises key interest rate

AFP, WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday raised the benchmark interest rate by a quarter percentage point as expected, citing an improving economy with one month to go before President-elect Donald Trump takes office. The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee voted unanimously to increase the key federal funds rate to a range of 0.5 to 0.75 per cent, but repeated that the worlds biggest economy likely will require only gradual rate increases going forward. Fed chair Janet Yellen said the rate hike can be seen as a vote of confidence in the economy. The rate increase from the previous range of 0.25 to 0.5 per cent is the first hike since December 2015 and only the second in a decade. The move should certainly be understood as a reflection of the confidence we have in the progress that the economy has made and our judgment that that progress will continue, Yellen told a press conference following the meeting. And the economy has proven to be remarkably resilient, so it is a vote of confidence in the economy. After rallying consistently and hitting multiple new records since Trumps election on November 8, putting the Dow within striking distance of the 20,000-point mark, US stocks fell in the wake of the Fed announcement.