The outcome of the latest meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee was roughly in line with expectations. The Federal Reserve’s policymaking body held the federal funds rate steady at a target range of 0.25 to 0.5 percent but sent the market a decidedly mixed message: A hawkish statement cited a robust economy and noted that the case for an increase in the federal funds rate in the near term has strengthened. At the same time, sweeping downward revisions to forecasts for policy rates and growth over the medium term were unambiguously dovish.
