Yahoo Finance’s Jennifer Schonberger reports:
The Federal Reserve is widely expected to hold interest rates steady at the conclusion of its policy meeting Wednesday, but the path forward is anything but certain for Jerome Powell.
Investors will be listening closely to the central bank chairman at a 2:30 p.m. ET press conference for any hints on future monetary policy actions after President Trump spent the last few weeks repeatedly calling for the Fed to lower rates while also lobbing insults at Powell.
Trump in recent weeks referred to Powell as a “major loser,” “Mr. Too Late,” and a “total stiff” in a series of social media posts. He also said that Powell’s “termination can’t come fast enough” before later clarifying that he had no intention of removing Powell before the end of his term in May 2026.
Powell and his colleagues expect to be grappling in the months to come with a vexing dilemma. They likely will need to decide which side of their dual mandate to emphasize — price stability or maximum employment — as Trump’s tariffs potentially push inflation higher and possibly act as a drag on economic growth.
Powell last month made it clear he would wait for more clarity before deciding. Some Fed watchers expect him to do the same today.
Read more here on what Wall Street expects in the Fed’s policy decision.