Fed Meeting Preview

FOMC US Government is still worried about inflation, but it's not probable that a rate hike is given on the 9th May's Meeting. The last hike was seen on June '06 when they hiked to the actual 5.25%.

Economic growth has slowed down noticeably in the past months but it is not strong enough yet to put pressure on the Fed to cut rates.

Check the effect that the result of the meeting will have over the pairs in our Rates and Charts Section or compare the movements of the different banks in our World Interest Rates Table. You can also tell us what do you think the Fed will do on our Forum Poll: The Central Banks Week.

Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System
View the past interest rates data on our Economic Time series
Register now to our special webinar: FOMC US interest rate announcement with the expert Jerry Furst.

In-Depth Analysis

FOMC: Preview of policy meeting by Danske Bank A/S
FOMC May 9th Meeting by BBVA Bancomer
Forex Daily Analysis - Today US Interest Rate In Focus! by ForexYard
Daily Forex Technical Report - Dollar Remains Firm ahead of FOMC by ActionForex.com
Daily Forex Commentary - Waiting for FOMC by Jyske Bank
Wakeup Call on Forex Markets - Focus on the FOMC rate decision and statement tonight by Saxo Bank
European and US summary - Dollar Drifted Lower Ahead of Three Central Banks Decisions by Forexnews.com
US economic indicators - FOMC to keep fed funds rate stable by BHF-Bank
Daily Fx Strategy - Fed Statement Seen Dollar Negative by CMC Markets NY
Asia Market Update - Stocks rally as markets get ready for the Fed meeting by Trade The News
Daily Fx Strategy - Fed Statement Will Be Bitter Recipe for the Dollar by CMC Markets NY
Daily Global Commentary - Employment Data Allow the FOMC to Effectively Go ???Neutral??? by Northern Trust

Analysts' comments

Lee More, VP at ForexYard:
"If the Fed continues to talk about the weakness of the economy, rather than the risk on the inflation side, and will come with more cautious towards the economy, that act will be seen as more dovish and then the dollar will likely weaken. The Fed's tone will have to be very dovish to stop, what may turn out to be, the beginning of the long overdue dollar reversal. As such, we may very well see the dollar touching the 1.33 level against the EUR in the near future." - ForexYard
Korman Tam, currency strategist at Forexnews.com:
"The FOMC will announce the results of its policy-setting meeting at 2:15 PM New York time. The overwhelming consensus view, including our own, is for the Fed to stand pat at 5.25% and issue a statement largely in line with the March policy statement. The recent slate of economic data since the previous meeting has been mixed, as GDP, manufacturing, housing and jobs have slowed while inflation continues to hover near its highs ??� warranting the Fed to maintain its neutral stance with caution towards risks to inflation." - Forexnews.com
Hans Nilsson, FX strategist at CMS Forex:
"Trading mixed on Tuesday, the dollar was lower against the yen but higher against the euro ahead of three central bank meetings. The Federal Reserve is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate at 5.25% after its meeting on Wednesday. Investors are waiting to see if the Fed will change the outlook for the US economy and threat of inflation. We do not expect any big changes in the Fed statement." - CMS Forex
David Brown, chief european economist at Bear Stearns:
"The key for markets should be the tenor of the accompanying statement and whether the Fed keeps its tightening bias intact -- especially in the wake of the softer than expected April payrolls and March PCE core deflator." - AFX News