Fed's Yellen flags rate hikes on 'meeting-by-meeting' basis

The Federal Reserve is preparing to consider interest rate hikes "on a meeting-by-meeting basis," Fed Chair Janet Yellen told a congressional committee on Tuesday, a subtle shift of emphasis that helps lay the groundwork for the Fed's first rate hike since 2006. In remarks to the Senate Banking Committee, Yellen described how the Fed's rate-setting policy committee will likely proceed in coming months - first by removing the word "patient" in describing its approach to rate hikes, then entering a phase in which rate hikes are possible at any meeting. By the end of her two-hour appearance before the Senate Banking Committee, short-term rate futures contracts showed traders had shifted their expectations of an initial rate hike from September to October, according to data collected and analyzed by CME FedWatch. Yellen, however, said that even as the Fed refines its language in coming weeks, investors should not construe that as a sign the central bank is wed to a rate hike at any particular meeting.

via Business News http://ift.tt/1DPFjLe