Federal Reserve OMC Meeting Highlights
Jerome Powell announced the results and decision of the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee this afternoon.
That Soft Landing is Looking Good!
Fed Holds Rates Steady and Sees Cuts Next Year: The Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a range between 5.25% and 5.5% and signaled that it expects to lower rates three times in 2024 as inflation eases more than anticipated.
Inflation and Economic Outlook: The Fed revised down its projections for core inflation, which excludes volatile food and energy items, to 3.2% for this quarter and 2.4% for next year, from 3.7% and 2.6% in September. The Fed also sees the unemployment rate at 3.7% and the economic growth at 2.9% for this year.
Balance of Risks: The Fed faces two risks: moving too slowly to ease policy and causing the economy to weaken or moving too prematurely and letting inflation settle above 3%. The Fed said it is not declaring victory on inflation yet but is open to discussing rate cuts as inflation slows.
The Market Likes the FOMC Decision!
10-Year US Treasury Bond: The benchmark 10-year US Treasury closed at 4.024%, the lowest since August 1. US10Y: 4.024% -0.182
30- Year Average Mortgage Rate: The 30-year mortgage average rate ended the day at 6.82%, lowest since May 18. 30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rates.
