FOMC Meeting Minutes

September meeting of the Federal Reserve brought the market a lot to digest. First of all, the Fed announced that it will start reducing its $4.5-trillion balance sheet from October. At first, monthly reductions will equal to $10 billion. Over the next year, the amount will rise to $50 billion a month. There were no surprises for the market in this announcement: traders were ready for such move and had priced it in.

The more interesting thing was that the Fed hinted at its plans to raise rates this year – most likely in December. Many traders had earlier disregarded such scenario, thinking that concerns about the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria would keep the Fed from increasing borrowing costs. The hawkish surprise was for the benefit of the US dollar.

The FOMC members also updated forecasts for the federal funds rate. It turns out that they expect 3 more rate hikes in 2018.

The minutes of the Fed’s September meeting will give traders more information about the central bank’s intentions. The release of this document will be a market-mover. It will influence the USD in all major pairs.

Elizabeth Belugina

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