Fed meeting today

The Federal Reserve is poised to hike interest rates for the sixth time this year to fight inflation. The aggressive hikes risk igniting a recession.

] [USA TODAY economics reporter Paul Davidson](https://www.usatoday.com/staff/2646662001/paul-davidson/) will cover the event in person. [labor market remains strong](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/10/07/september-jobs-report-unemployment-inflation-interest-rates/8195709001/). ] [S&P 500 performance during the past five rate hikes] [In all but one of the past five Fed rate hikes, the S&P 500 closed at least 1% higher](https://www.usatoday.com/in-depth/graphics/2022/10/31/fed-markets-how-sp-500-moved-each-rate-increase/10614448002/). But [economists ](https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2022/10/27/recession-looming-some-predict-higher-severity-than-expected/10600959002/)don’t expect that to be the case in 2023, especially if the Fed continues lifting rates at an aggressive pace. Banks pass on these higher rates to consumers by making it more expensive for them to get a mortgage, a loan, pay off credit card debt and more. [Fed rate hike history 2022] [Here's when the Federal Reserve hiked its short-term interest rate this year, and the amount by which it raised that rate.] [March 17: 0.25 percentage point] [May 5: 0.50 percentage point] [June 16: 0.75 percentage point] [July 28: 0.75 percentage point] [September 22: 0.75 percentage point] [What time is Powell’s press conference?] [Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s media conference will begin at 2:30 p.m. The fed funds rate is the interest rate banks charge to lend money to one another. [Fed fund rates today ] [Ahead of the Fed's upcoming rate hike, the fed fund rate ranges between 3% to 3.75%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 0.5% while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were down by 0.7% as of 10:30 a.m. Leading up to the decision, the index was higher but fell immediately after the Fed announced the 75-point hike. - The central bank is boosting rates to curb inflation, which hovers near a 40-year high. That increase will have a direct impact on

There are many reasons for the Federal Reserve chairman to maintain a hawkish stance on rate hikes.

The committee’s policy statement is out at 2 p.m. That would mean the sixth rate hike of 2022 and fourth-straight 0.75 percentage-point bump. Markets won’t get their much-anticipated all-clear signal from the Fed.

The Federal Reserve delivered its latest monetary policy announcement, with the central bank hiking rates by 75 basis points, or 0.75 percentage point.

The strategist said Powell will have to be careful in how he crafts the statement because he could raise market expectations for a less aggressive Fed. "Rate hikes from here will be more cognizant of the new economic environment we're in with respect to the much higher cost of capital and economic clouds that are circling," he said. As in, Wall Street will be looking for the central bank to "step down" from its current tightening path. "Will there be discussion about the potential for 50 basis points in December? We're somewhat surprised to see the 'soft pivot' in the statement itself and we expect that Powell will double down on this narrative at the press conference. "From a cost benefit perspective, it doesn't do as much damage to the asset markets and to the broader economy… "We've always said it was going to be difficult, but to the extent rates have to go higher and stay higher for longer it becomes harder to see the path. ... And that's why I've said at the last two press conferences that at some point it will be important to slow the pace of increases. The Fed raised its target rate by three-quartes of a point Wednesday afternoon. The Fed's outlook may be less one-sided, but reaffirming its bias to fight hard against inflation – and the 2% inflation target – is likely to remain a market headwind until inflation conditions improve." The level of interest rates will also be higher than previously expected, he said. "Chairman Powell made it clear that his bias is to err on the side of over-tightening rather than under-tightening in order to avoid the risk of inflation becoming entrenched," said Yung-Yu Ma, chief investment strategist, BMO Wealth Management.

Speaking after the central bank increased its main interest rate by 0.75 percentage points for the fourth time in a row, Powell warned the Fed had “some ways to ...

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