The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) of the U.S. Federal Reserve will announce its decision to raise interest rates on Wednesday.
The Federal Open Market Committee is anticipated to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25%–5.5%, a 22-year high.
As the Fed nears the conclusion of its rate-hiking campaign, Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the committee will assess the impact of recent rate hikes.
If inflation exceeds the Fed’s 2% target, the FOMC committee will announce a second “pause” this year. If inflation increases, the Fed may raise interest rates by an additional 25 basis points at the end of the year.
The Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the annual PCE rate, increased to 3.3% in July from 3% in June. The labor market has weakened, and the unemployment rate has increased.
Wall Street titans predicted a “halt” in September, but rising oil prices threaten to re-inflate the economy.
JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Barclays, BNP, BMO, Bloomberg, Nomura, RBC, and Wells Fargo all predicted a halt.
In contrast, Raymond James and Mizuho anticipate a 25 bps increase.
“We expect the Fed will keep rates unchanged at tomorrow’s FOMC meeting, while retaining a tightening bias. We think the 2023 median dot will continue to show one further hike this year, while there is a risk that the longer-run dot is revised higher.”
The CME FedWatch Tool predicts a 99% chance of a break at the September 20 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee.
In the meantime, the US dollar index (DXY) remains above 105, increasing the danger that the BTC price will remain under pressure.
The current BTC price is $27,144, representing a 1% increase over the past 24 hours. The 24-hour low is $26,918 and the 24-hour high is $27,488, respectively.
However, price volatility persisted before the Fed’s monetary policy decision.
Bitcoin has risen 5% in the past week as speculators anticipate significant upward momentum following the FOMC.
It will restore the necessary bullish sentiment alongside improved technical chart patterns.