FED Announces Interest Rate Decision Today: What Are the Expectations? Will Bitcoin Be Affected?

• Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that the committee will assess the impact of the last interest rate hikes as the end of the interest rate hike campaign approaches.
• Wall Street giants expect a “pause” in September, but rising oil prices threaten to elevate inflation once again.
• CME’s FedWatch Tool shows a 99% probability of a pause at the next FOMC meeting on September 20th. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is still above 105.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce the eagerly anticipated interest rate decision today; Expectations for the interest rate decision!

The Fed Will Announce the Interest Rate Decision Today

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) will announce the interest rate decision on Wednesday. It is expected that the FOMC will maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25%-5.5%, which is the highest level in 22 years.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that as the committee approaches the end of the interest rate hike campaign, they will evaluate the impact of the recent interest rate hikes. Although inflation is still above the Fed’s 2% target, the FOMC committee will announce a “pause” for the second time this year. However, if inflation rises, the Fed may raise rates by another 25 basis points by year-end.

The Fed’s preferred measure of inflation, the annual PCE rate, rose from 3% in June to 3.3% in July. The labor market has cooled, and the unemployment rate has increased.

Wall Street giants expect a “pause” in September, but rising oil prices threaten to elevate inflation once again. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, BNP, BMO, Bloomberg, Nomura, RBC, and Wells Fargo are all expecting a pause. Raymond James and Mizuho, on the other hand, expect a 25 basis point increase.

“We expect the Fed to maintain its interest rates at the FOMC meeting tomorrow without changes and continue the tightening trend. We believe the midpoint for 2023 will show one more increase this year, but there is a risk of revising the long-term point to higher levels.”

CME’s FedWatch Tool shows a 99% probability of a pause at the next FOMC meeting on September 20th. Meanwhile, the U.S. Dollar Index (DXY) is still above 105, which carries the risk of continued pressure on the BTC price.

Bitcoin Approaches $30,000

BTC price has dropped by 1% in the last 24 hours and is currently trading around $26,970. The lowest and highest levels in the last 24 hours were $26,918 and $27,488, respectively. However, the price is fluctuating ahead of the Fed’s monetary policy decision.

Bitcoin has risen by 5% in the last week while traders expect significant upward momentum after the Fed’s announcement. This indicates that technical chart patterns may bring back a stronger bullish sentiment.