News

The Federal Open Market Committee meeting started Tuesday and will culminate with a written policy statement and press conference Wednesday—but don't expect much clarity on where interest rates are headed.

(Bloomberg) -- Executives at the US’s biggest management consulting firms are trying to shield tens of billions of dollars in federal contracts from scorched-earth spending cuts by the Trump administration.Most Read from BloombergHow Britain’s Most Bike-Friendly New Town Got BuiltThe Dark Prophet of Car-Clogged CitiesWashington, DC, Region Braces for ‘Devastating’ Cuts from CongressNYC Plans for Flood Protection Without Federal FundsA Malibu Model for Residents on the Fire FrontlinesOne of their

All eyes are on the Federal Reserve as markets look for clues on the path forward for interest rates and the US economy.

(Bloomberg) -- Morocco’s central bank cut the benchmark interest rate for the second consecutive time, voicing confidence about inflation despite concerns about how Donald Trump’s protectionist policies are roiling global trade.Most Read from BloombergICE Eyes Massive California Tent Facility Amid Space ConstraintsHow Britain’s Most Bike-Friendly New Town Got BuiltThe Dark Prophet of Car-Clogged CitiesWashington, DC, Region Braces for ‘Devastating’ Cuts from CongressNYC Plans for Flood Protectio

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Bond investors are bracing for a U.S. economic downturn, as they pare back risky exposures, while many are extending duration in their fixed-income portfolios, taking in to account a Federal Reserve that is in no rush to resume cutting interest rates. In the run-up to this week's two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting, investors have been extending duration. Investors have been lengthening duration for the last month at least, market participants said.

Wall Street’s ever-shifting outlook on the reduction of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet is once again in flux, with a number of banks and researchers now seeing a good chance the central bank may slow further or pause the effort at this week's policy meeting. The Fed's two-day interest-rate-setting meeting concludes on Wednesday, with little expectation for a change in rate policy but some indications that Fed officials are growing concerned that the reduction of bond holdings under quantitative tightening, or QT, may cause issues in money markets while the Treasury Department faces constraints managing government finances under the federal debt limit. “We think the Fed will opt for a slowdown" in the pace of Treasury bond run-off, said Evercore ISI analysts.

Tumbling stock markets and signs of tightening credit may make the Federal Reserve's job even more difficult this week as U.S. central bank policymakers try to weigh whether consumer spending will suffer as households take stock of the potential blow to their net worth and greater difficulty in obtaining loans. U.S. retail sales for February, reported on Monday in the last set of hard economic data Fed officials will see before kicking off their two-day policy meeting on Tuesday, were weaker than expected. The Fed will release a new policy statement at 2 p.m. EDT (1800 GMT) on Wednesday.