— Michael Feroli, JPMorgan Chase & Co.
As markets expected, the US Federal Reserve left its monetary policy unchanged at its meeting on Thursday. However, policymakers signalled that "the path of gradual tightening" remained in play despite an economic slowdown registered in the March quarter. Although the Fed did not provide any clues on the timing of the next interest rate hike. Nevertheless, according to market forecasts, the next hike will likely appear in June. Solid inflation growth and the strong labour market pleased policymakers and offset sluggish economic growth. The next Fed meeting will take place on June 13-14 in Washington. Other data released on Wednesday showed that US services activity rose more than expected in April. The ISM reported its PMI for the nation's services sector came in at 57.5, up from the previous month's 55.2. In the meantime, markets anticipated a slight increase to 56.1 points in April. Earlier that day, ADP reported that US companies created 177K new jobs last month, roughly in line with forecasts. Meanwhile, March's gain of 263K new positions was revised down to 255K.
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