The post Bitcoin Steady Above $66,000 as Fed Maintains Rates appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Bitcoin (BTC) held above $66,000 after the Federal Open Market Committee’s (FOMC) decision on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to keep interest rates unchanged at 5.25%—5.50% for the eighth consecutive meeting. The Fed’s decision comes amid cautious optimism after indicating no rush to lower rates until it has gained greater confidence inflation is moving sustainably toward its 2% target.  Fed Leaves Interest Rates Unchanged The FOMC voted unanimously to keep its benchmark overnight borrowing rate between 5.25% and 5.50%. The market’s pulse quickened as the Fed reinforced its strategy. The highlight of the event, however, was Fed chair Jerome Powell’s press conference, which leaned toward a dovish stance. Nevertheless, the Fed did not explicitly signal a September rate cut. In addition to leaving interest rates unchanged, however, the Fed chair delivered important clues about the policy-easing strategy for the remainder of 2024. Powell demonstrated increasing but cautious optimism about disinflation progress resuming in the second half of 2024. After the soft inflation prints recorded in the second quarter, key highlights from the July 30-31 meeting include: Strong commitment to taking inflation to the 2% goal. Economic activity continues to expand at a solid pace. Attentive to risk on both sides of the dual mandate- maximum employment and stable prices Inflation has been downgraded from “elevated” to “somewhat elevated” The committee will assess incoming data and the balance of risks Decision to be made on a meeting-by-meeting basis to avoid backfiring It is a question of seeing more good data Rate cut could be on the table in September The path ahead is going to depend on the way the economy evolves. As BeInCrypto reported on Powell’s previous appearance, the Fed chair had acknowledged “some more progress on taming inflation in the second quarter.” He also indicated having had three better…

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Filed under: News - @ August 1, 2024 10:18 am