WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers in December aimed to signal that a 1-1/2 year rate rise campaign was likely near its end, minutes of the central bank's mid-month meeting released on Tuesday showed.
The Fed raised the benchmark federal funds overnight lending rate by a quarter-percentage point to 4.25 percent at its December 13 meeting, the 13th straight gathering at which it nudged credit costs higher.
In a statement issued after the meeting that day, Fed officials said "some further measured policy firming" was likely. Tuesday's minutes of that meeting showed officials believed that language would suggest to financial markets that only a few more rates hikes would likely follow.
"Although future action would depend on the incoming data, this characterization of the outlook for policy was seen by most members as indicating that, given the information now in hand, the number of additional firming steps required probably would not be large," the minutes said.
As the raise in rates occurs part of the components which made the huge housing boom happen ( low rates of intrest) Is going to start back up again in the near future.
because any economic shift will most likely be downward which means (drum roll please) cut in rates.
Once again the rule of "the Doomsayer is usually wrong" continues to hold
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