The US Federal Reserve on Wednesday left interest rates unchanged between 5.25-5.50 range as expected while signalling that policymakers are not ready to start cutting rates as soon as the next meeting.
The US central bank stated after the meeting to decide the next move on policy rates that risks to goals are moving into better balance as officials voted to maintain its pace of quantitative tightening.
Hopes for a rate cut in March became smaller as the Fed signalled that it is not looking to cut rates in the next meeting as the move is not appropriate until the central bank gains more confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.
This is the fourth straight meeting that the Fed decided to hold rates and the market does not like the move and tone from policy makers.
The probability for a rate cut by 25 basis points in March has plummeted to 37% after the meeting, down from 50% yesterday and 80% last year.
