US Federal Reserve policymakers held their target interest rate unchanged today, citing "somewhat elevated" inflation even as the jobless rate has shown "some signs of stabilization."
The Fed's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept the federal funds rate at 3.5-3.75pc in the first meeting of the year, following quarter point cuts in September, October and December last year.
The meeting comes as US president Donald Trump has ratcheted up his campaign to undermine the independence of the central bank. The Justice Department recently launched a criminal investigation into Fed chair Jerome Powell's testimony before Congress regarding cost overruns on a Fed building project, following months of public pillorying of Powell for allegedly being "too slow" to cut rates. Trump has also sought to unseat a Fed governor over alleged mortgage fraud. Powell's term as chair ends in May.
Before the Fed's rate announcement, the CME's FedWatch tool on Wednesday showed a 0.6pc probability of a quarter-point cut, with 99.4 odds of a hold.
