US Federal Reserve keeps key interest rates steady

WASHINGTON  – The Federal Reserve held its benchmark interest rate steady Wednesday and sent its strongest signal to date that it sees no need to raise rates anytime soon. Its message ignited a rally on Wall Street, which cheered the prospect of continued modest borrowing rates for the near future.

The Fed and its chairman, Jerome Powell, pointed to global economic pressures and consistently mild inflation as reasons to keep rates steady. The policymakers also said they’re prepared to slow the reduction of their bond holdings if needed to help the economy.

In a statement after its latest policy meeting, the Fed said it would be “patient” about future rate hikes. Its benchmark short-term rate will remain in a range of 2.25 percent to 2.5 percent after having been raised four times last year. The Fed’s key rate influences many loan rates for businesses and consumers, including mortgages.

The picture sketched by Powell and the Fed was of a US economy that remains on firm footing with low inflation but that faces risks from a global slowdown and a US trade war with China.

“The situation calls for patience,” Powell said at a news conference afterward. “We have the luxury to be patient.”

Before raising rates again, Powell said, he would need to see rising inflation. The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge has risen 1.8 percent in the past 12 months, below its two percent annual target.

“I would want to see a need for further rate increases, and for me a big part of that would be inflation,” the chairman said.

Pleased by the Fed’s benign outlook, investors sent the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 435 points and back above the 25,000 level.

The central bank said in its statement that it’s ready to use all its tools – including an adjustment to its bond portfolio – if it decided the economy needed more support. Since late 2017, the Fed has been gradually reducing its bond portfolio, a move that has likely contributed to higher borrowing rates. But at some point, to avoid weakening the economy, it could slow that process or end it sooner than envisioned. Doing so would help keep a lid on loan rates and help support the economy.

The Fed’s note of patience about rate hikes marks a reversal from a theme that Powell had sounded at a news conference after the Fed’s previous policy meeting in December. Powell had appeared then to leave open the prospect of further increases soon. This message had sparked fears in financial markets that the Fed might tighten credit too aggressively this year, and the Dow sank over 350 points that day.

“I think he got an education by the markets and got burned,” said Kathy Bostjancic, chief US financial market economist at Oxford Economics. “Now, they’re bending over backward to show they’re sensitive” to the market.

Bostjancic suggested that Powell wants to convey that he is mindful of the economic risks that are worrying investors, including weakening global growth, the US trade war with China and Britain’s struggles to achieve a smooth exit from the European Union. If he didn’t, she said, markets might tumble further and borrowing costs could rise, thereby threatening the Fed’s goals of maximizing employment and stabilizing prices.

Now, in light of such global pressures, the Powell Fed is now signaling that it’s in no hurry to resume raising rates. And with inflation remaining tame, the rationale to tighten credit has become less compelling.