As Fed goes silent, so too go chances of April rate hike

Washington (Apr 20)  The Federal Reserve begins its media blackout Tuesday, as always happens one week before it’s interest rate policy meeting.

Based on everything that’s been said over the past six weeks, the Fed is widely expected to hold rates steady and try not to rock the boat to upset the relative calm in financial markets.

“The chance of a Fed rate hike appear to be nil,” said Sam Bullard, senior economist at Wells Fargo Securities.
“It is pretty much a given that they will take a pass next week,” agreed Jim O’Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics.

Fed officials will meet on April 26-27 and release a statement at 2 p.m. on the second day. In March, the Fed held rates steady and scaled back its projections of rate hikes this year to two from four.

Read:  Fed leaves rates unchanged, sees only two hikes in 2016

Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen will not hold a press conference and the central bank will not release updated forecasts.

In the first weeks after the Fed’s March meeting, several Fed officials indicated they were open to an interest rate hike as early as this coming April meeting. But in the last few days, some of these officials have “abandoned ship,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets.

Source: MarketWatch