As widely expected, the Federal Open Markets Committee announced Wednesday that it will keep the Federal Funds rate unchanged. At the same time, 12 of 19 Fed officials suggested that the rate will be increased one more time this year — on November 1 or December 13. The remaining seven colleagues expect no further hike. The officials’ dot plot also showed that the interest rate will remain higher for longer during 2024 than they had signaled at earlier meetings. None of this came as a major surprise to Treasury or equity markets when the FOMC decision was released at 2:00 pm Eastern time. There was little change in ... (full story)