The Federal Reserve is meeting today evening and is widely expected to keep interest rates unchanged, with emphasis on plans to continue gradually raising interest rates this year despite recent criticism from US President Donald Trump.
Trump said he was not enthusiastic about tightening monetary policy for the Fed. Markets expect rates to remain unchanged at today's meeting in the range of 1.75% -2%. The Federal Reserve raised rates twice so far in 2018, bringing the number of times of rate hikes since December 2015 to 7 times.
The economic data support continued to raise interest rates. The US economy grew by 4.1% in the second quarter, the highest in almost four years. While the Core Personal consumption expenditure (PCE) stabilized at 1.9%, slightly below the Fed's target of 2%. Also, labor market data were strong.
