,
,
, ‘A majority of Federal Reserve (Fed) officials have indicated that it would be appropriate to cut interest rates in September if economic indicators continue to perform as expected.’,
,
, ‘This was revealed in the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting in July, released on the 21st (local time).’,
,
, ‘The minutes stated, “The vast majority of officials suggested that if the indicators continue to meet expectations, it would be appropriate to ease monetary policy at the next meeting on September 17-18.”‘,
,
, ‘This view by Fed officials aligns with market expectations that the Fed will begin lowering interest rates in September.’,
,
, ‘Since the unexpected rise in the U.S. unemployment rate in the July jobs report, Wall Street has been treating a September rate cut by the Fed as a foregone conclusion.’,
,
, ‘The Fed kept the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 5.25-5.50% at the July meeting.’,
,
, ‘Some officials appeared to acknowledge the need to cut interest rates in July before the September meeting.’,
,
, ‘According to the minutes, although all members of the FOMC supported maintaining the benchmark interest rate at the current 5.25-5.50%, “several officials either provided valid justifications for lowering the rate by 0.25 percentage points at this meeting or supported such a decision.”‘,
,
, ‘Attendees believed recent inflation data increased confidence that price indicators were moving steadily toward the 2% target.’,
,
, ‘Regarding the labor market, many officials noted the potential for recent employment figures to be overstated.’,
,
, ‘The U.S. Department of Labor announced that it revised down job growth figures from April last year to March this year by 818,000 compared to previously reported numbers, indicating that the U.S. job market may not have been as hot as previously thought.’,
,
, ‘The minutes stated that “a majority of participants noted that risks to the Fed’s employment goal had increased, and many participants mentioned that risks related to the inflation objective had decreased.”‘,
,
, ‘Furthermore, “some participants pointed out that if labor market conditions were to gradually ease further, there was a risk that they could turn into more serious deterioration.”‘,
,
, ‘Given that a majority of Fed officials reportedly sympathized with the need for interest rate cuts in the minutes released on that day, market expectations are likely to increase for the Fed to raise the pace of monetary policy easing in September, such as through a ‘big cut’ (a 0.50 percentage point rate cut).’,
,
, ‘According to the FedWatch tool from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME), the interest rate futures market on that day reflected a 39% probability that the Fed would lower the benchmark interest rate by 0.50 percentage points at the September monetary policy meeting. This was a significant increase from the previous day’s 29% probability.’,
,
, ‘(Photo=Yonhap News)’,
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