Staying Steady
The Federal Reserve is holding its horses.
At their meeting on Wednesday, the central bank left interest rates unchanged (around 4.5%), employing its trademark “wait and see” approach.
The Fed gave a slightly less optimistic forecast than it did at its last meeting—lower economic growth and higher inflation—but caveated everything by saying the predictions were “highly uncertain.” It’s unclear how things like proposed government spending cuts, federal layoffs, and on-again-off-again tariffs will play out. Despite the uncertainty, Chairman Jerome Powell said the overall economic data, like unemployment, remains solid.
Wall Street was excited to hear the Fed still expects to cut rates twice this year (S&P 500 +1.1%, Dow +0.9%), but President Trump was unexcited rates wouldn't be cut immediately, saying a trim would be the “right thing” to offset the impact of tariffs.
Verse to consider when stressing over the uncertainty of the market… “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”
Hebrews 13:8 (CSB) (read full passage)