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Federal Reserve Board Chairman Jerome Powell holds a news conference on October 30, 2019 in Washington, DC.
Eric Baradat | AFP | Getty Images
2:01 pm: Interest rates unchanged, but Fed ups interest paid on excess reserves
Though the Fed kept its benchmark rate steady, it did tweak interest it pays on funds stored at the central bank. It boosted the interest on excess reserves rate 5 basis points to 1.6% in what officials categorized as a mostly technical move.
2:00 pm: Fed leaves interest rates unchanged as expected
Fed members voted to leave interest rates unchanged, a move widely expected by investors and economists across Wall Street.
“The Committee judges that the current stance of monetary policy is appropriate to support sustained expansion of economic activity, strong labor market conditions, and inflation returning to the Committee’s symmetric 2 percent objective,” the Fed’s statement read.
1:50 pm: Fed decision 10 minutes away
Wall Street expects the Fed to leave its key responsibility — interest rates — unchanged at its first regular meeting of 2020. The central bank, which tries to maximize U.S. employment and keep prices throughout the economy tame, has made it clear in prior meetings that it won’t adjust borrowing costs unless it sees a meaningful and sustained uptick in inflation. Chairman Jerome Powell will answer questions from journalists at 2:30 pm ET. Powell, in perhaps the most interesting part of the Fed’s comments today, could be asked to comment on topics ranging from the coronavirus to the size of the Fed’s balance sheet.
Markets were calm heading into the decision with the Dow up 0.5% (155 points) and the S&P 500 adding about 0.4%. The 10-year Treasury note yield held above multimonth lows around 1.617%.