Market participants on Fed Watch predict that the Federal Reserve (The Fed) will maintain its benchmark interest rate at 4.25% to 4.5% during the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting early Thursday (March 19), just as it did in January.
The U.S. central bank remains open to a potential 25-basis-point rate cut. Additionally, The Fed is set to release its latest economic projections covering GDP growth, inflation, unemployment, and interest rate forecasts.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell emphasized this March that shifts in U.S. policy, such as trade tariffs, are crucial for economic stability and monetary policy decisions.
“There’s no need to rush—we are in a good position to wait for more clarity,” Powell stated.
He also noted that U.S. economic resilience is vital, particularly in light of the ongoing trade war, which could trigger global market volatility.
Meanwhile, the crypto market has shown mixed reactions. As of this writing, the total crypto market capitalization has increased by 0.34%, with Bitcoin seeing a slight uptick of 0.10% and Ethereum rising nearly 2%.
However, some tokens are experiencing declines, with Binance Coin (BNB) down 3.79%, Cosmos (ATOM) dropping 3.63%, and Mantle (MNT) falling 2.42%.
