Stocks held steady after the Federal Open Market Committee kept interest rates unchanged at its July meeting.
The decision to hold the target range for the federal-funds rate between 4.25% and 4.5% was widely expected by market participants. Odds of at least a quarter-point cut through the FOMC’s next meeting in September were at 59.7% heading into the decision.
Federal Reserve Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman and Fed Gov. Christopher Waller both dissented with the decision, calling for a quarter-point cut.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, where it’s traded for much of the session. The S&P 500 was up 0.2%. The Nasdaq Composite was up 0.4%.
President Donald Trump has campaigned for the central bank to cut rates for months. He’s nicknamed the Fed chairman “Too Late Jerome Powell.” Some Trump allies have gone as far to call for Powell’s resignation and sought to undermine him by calling attention to cost overruns related to the renovation of the central bank’s historic Eccles Building.
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