- Powell said that there was broad support on the committee for holding the benchmark interest rates today.
- Powell said the Fed hasn’t lost independence yet.
- He added that the year 2026 has started on a strong note.
Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell in a press conference on Wednesday said that the Fed will make the decision on benchmark rates on a meeting-by-meeting basis.
“We'll continue to make our decisions, meeting by meeting, based on the incoming data, the implications for the outlook and the balance of risks,” Powell said.
“Haven't made any decisions about future meetings, but the economy is growing at a solid pace,” he added.
Powell said that there was broad support on the committee for holding the benchmark interest rates today.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its key interest rate steady at 3.50% - 3.75% in its first policy meeting of 2026, in line with market expectations.
The Federal Reserve on Wednesday kept its key interest rate steady at 3.50% - 3.75% in its first policy meeting of 2026, in line with market expectations.
Confident On Fed Independence
Fed’s independence has been under scrutiny especially after President Donald Trump’s attempt to fire Fed governor Lisa Cook from her role without judicial proceedings.
“We haven't lost it (independence). I don't believe we will. I certainly hope we won't, but it's very important, and the reason it's important is that it's enabled central banks generally not to be perfect, but to serve the public well,” Powell said.
Powell said that if the Fed loses independence then it's hard to restore the credibility of the institution. “If people lose their faith that we're making decisions, you know only on the basis of our assessment of what's best for everyone, for the wide public, rather than trying to benefit one group or another. If you lose that, it's going to be hard to retain it,” he added.
Improving Economic Situation
Powell said that the year 2026 has started on a strong note and the incoming data since the last meeting has shown a clear improvement in the outlook for growth.
“The data have come in, and sentiment to Beige Book, everything comes in suggesting that this year starts off on a solid footing for growth, inflation performed about as expected,” Powell said.
U.S. equities were mixed during extended hours of trading on Wednesday. At the time of writing, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which tracks the S&P 500 index, was down by 0.1%, the Invesco QQQ Trust ETF (QQQ) rose 0.37%, and the SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF Trust (DIA) fell 0.10%.
Retail sentiment around the S&P 500 ETF on Stocktwits was in the ‘extremely bearish’ territory.
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