Following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) two-day meeting of July 26-27, the US Fed unanimously announced an interest rate hike of 0.75%, bringing the target range for the federal funds rate to 2.25-2.50%. This is the Fed’s fourth interest rate hike of 2022, following earlier hikes in March (0.25%), May (0.5%) and June (0.75%).
The June 2022 US CPI data showed year-on-year inflation at 9.1%, its highest over four decades. However, the US economy added 372,000 jobs, and the unemployment rate remained at 3.6%.
Before the Fed interest rate announcement, major US Stock benchmarks were up with the Dow Jones Industrial Average (+0.3%), the S&P 500 (+1.4%), and the Nasdaq Composite (+2.5%). The major US Stock benchmarks were trading higher after the Fed interest rate hike.
For the September 2022 interest rate decision, the Fed advised that it consider all prevailing data. The FOMC press release stated: “In assessing the appropriate stance of monetary policy, the Committee will continue to monitor the implications of incoming information for the economic outlook. The Committee would be prepared to adjust the stance of monetary policy as appropriate if risks emerge that could impede the attainment of the Committee’s goals. The Committee’s assessments will take into account a wide range of information, including readings on public health, labor market conditions, inflation pressures and inflation expectations, and financial and international developments”.
Meanwhile, the following cryptocurrencies were trading up over the past 24 hours, Ethereum (+16.7%), Bitcoin (+10.1%), Cardano (+10.6%), Dogecoin (+10.57%), XRP (+10.52%), Polygon (+19.2%), Polkadot (+9.9%) and Solana (+13.1%).
The US economy shrank by 1.6% in Q1 2022. The US Q2 2022 GDP data shall be released on July 28, 2022. Investors await the impact of this on the crypto markets.
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