Overview

• The Federal Open Market Committee voted 9–2 to keep its benchmark rate at 4.25%–4.50% for the fifth straight meeting.
• Governors Michelle Bowman and Christopher Waller registered the first two-member dissent on a policy decision since 1993, urging an immediate quarter-point cut.
• Chair Jerome Powell cautioned that recent tariff hikes could trigger either a one-time price spike or more persistent inflation, reinforcing the Fed’s data-dependent approach.
• Traders have trimmed the probability of a September rate reduction to around 40–45% after Powell’s cautious post-meeting comments.
• President Donald Trump intensified his public criticism of Powell on Truth Social, calling him “Too Late” and blaming him for higher borrowing costs.