Fed Holds Key Rate Steady After Warsh's First Meeting

Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh has chaired his first meeting on interest rates, and nothing has moved despite the change at the top. The central bank has kept its key interest rate parked in the 3.5% to 3.75% range, where it has sat all year. The decision was supported by all 12 members of the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee. It was the first time since last June that there wasn't some form of dissent, the New York Times reports. In quarterly projections, nine Fed officials expected at least one rate hike this year and six expected two, reports the AP. In March, the committee predicted at least one cut this year and none of the officials predicted a rate hike.

• "Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East. Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little," the Fed said in a statement. The Fed said inflation "remains elevated" relative to its 2% goal, "in part reflecting supply shocks that have driven price increases in certain sectors, including energy."

Warsh called for rate cuts last year, and after President Trump picked him in January to succeed Jerome Powell, the Fed appeared poised to cut rates, the Wall Street Journal reports. But inflation has climbed over the last four months, while hiring has picked up. According to the Journal, the case for rate cuts ended with the start of the Iran war. Warsh will hold his debut press conference at 2:30pm. CNBC predicts that attention will center less on this meeting and more on his longer-term playbook: Will he keep holding a press conference after every gathering? How does he plan to communicate with markets and the public? And what does he intend to do with the central bank's $6.8 trillion in bond holdings?