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17 Mar 2016
FOMC: Dovish Fed Statement – Investec
Research Team at Investec, suggests that the main highlight as far as the foreign exchange markets were concerned was the FOMC announcement in the US yesterday evening.
Key Quotes
“The committee voted to leave the Fed Funds target unchanged at 0.25%-0.50%, as expected, though one dissenter, Easter George, voted for an immediate 25bp hike. Importantly the committee’s statement did not refer to risks around the economic outlook returning to “balanced” (despite the recent easing in financial conditions) and the members’ ‘dot plot’ pointed to a median view of two hikes this year rather than four, as expected in December.
The statement did note though that inflation has picked up in recent months. Equities, bonds and short-term interest rate markets made gains on the basis that the Fed is not in a hurry to tighten again, while the USD fell sharply.”
Key Quotes
“The committee voted to leave the Fed Funds target unchanged at 0.25%-0.50%, as expected, though one dissenter, Easter George, voted for an immediate 25bp hike. Importantly the committee’s statement did not refer to risks around the economic outlook returning to “balanced” (despite the recent easing in financial conditions) and the members’ ‘dot plot’ pointed to a median view of two hikes this year rather than four, as expected in December.
The statement did note though that inflation has picked up in recent months. Equities, bonds and short-term interest rate markets made gains on the basis that the Fed is not in a hurry to tighten again, while the USD fell sharply.”