Last week, the Federal Reserve released its minutes from its Jan. 29-30 policy meeting in which it voted unanimously to hold its policy rate in a range between 2.25 percent and 2.5 percent. “Patience” has been a constant buzzword in the Fed’s vocabulary as of late and in the minutes released, leaning towards a patient approach to interest rates was confirmed.
“Participants pointed to a variety of considerations that supported a patient approach to monetary policy at this juncture as an appropriate step in managing various risks and uncertainties in the outlook,” the meeting said.
Investors and traders alike were no doubt dissecting the Fed minutes to extrapolate their own interpretations from it.
A separate statement last month alluded to a more flexible Fed that would be more strategic with regard to its balance sheet policy. Furthermore, flexibility would also apply to its holdings of Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities, which signaled a diversion from statements that the central bank would resume its asset purchases if economic data warranted a rate cut.
In the video below, George Rusnak, co-head of global fixed income strategy at Wells Fargo Investment Institute, and Al Rabil, co-founder and chief executive officer at Kayne Anderson Real Estate, preview the release of the latest Federal Reserve minutes. They speak on “Bloomberg Daybreak: Americas.”
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