President Donald Trump on Tuesday kept up the pressure on the head of the Federal Reserve following a report that lawyers at the White House earlier this year explored the legality of stripping Jerome Powell of the chairmanship.
The Federal Open Market Committee's quarterly economic forecast includes the so-called dot plot of where members see interest rates heading.
This is a comparison of Wednesday's FOMC statement with the one issued on May 1 after the Fed's previous policy-making meeting.
The Fed lowered its inflation forecast for 2019 while keeping the growth expectations unchanged.
The top U.S. trade negotiator said on Wednesday he is ready to work with lawmakers "sooner rather than later" to address concerns over a new North American pact, even as a leading Democrat cited problems that could prevent the deal's approval.
Oil futures were little changed on Wednesday as price support from a larger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude inventories was countered by a slump in equities.
Work to obtain building permits for the Trans Mountain oil pipeline started on Wednesday, Canadian Finance Minister Bill Morneau said, a day after the federal government approved the contentious expansion project despite widespread opposition.
Powell said policymakers are concerned about some of the recent economic developments and see a growing case for easier policy.
Following is the full text of the statement released by the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee on Wednesday following a two-day meeting:
Transport Canada, the auto safety regulator, has opened a probe into braking issues in nearly 250,000 General Motors full-size pickups and SUVs after U.S. officials launched a similar probe last year, the agency said on its website.
A gauge of global stock markets added to gains on Wednesday and benchmark U.S. Treasury yields and the U.S. dollar fell after the U.S. Federal Reserve signaled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year.
The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year, as it responded to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation.
Traders of U.S. short-term interest rate futures added to bets that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates starting next month, after the central bank ended a two-day policy meeting with a pledge to "act as appropriate" to sustain economic health.
The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday but signaled possible rate cuts of as much as half a percentage point over the remainder of this year, as it responded to increased economic uncertainty and a drop in expected inflation.
Brazilian planemaker Embraer landed the first major European customer for its newly certified E195-E2 passenger jet on Wednesday as Dutch KLM signed a letter of intent for 15 of the upgraded aircraft and options for another 20.