Markets will be monitoring the financial developments closely this week. One of them is the release of the FOMC meeting minutes held on March 18-19. At the March Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, the US Federal Reserve held the federal funds rate unchanged at 4.25%–4.50%.
US Federal Reserve FOMC meeting minutes will be released today, April 9, at 2:00 p.m. ET. In an action-packed week, US CPI data for March 2025 are scheduled to be released on April 10, 2025, at 8:30 A.M. Eastern Time.
“Today’s minutes from the March FOMC meeting, though stale, will shed some light on the Committee’s thinking around the potential risks of stagflation facing the US economy,” says Michael Brown, Senior Research Strategist at Pepperstone
The next FOMC meeting is on May 6-7 and the US Fed is widely expected to maintain the interest rates without falling for Trump’s call to cut rates.
President Trump’s refusal to back down on tariff hikes is keeping markets down. The risk of a global recession starting in America looks highly likely now. The recent massive market turbulence could potentially lead to prolonged recessions that economies may struggle to recover from.
US stock futures declined Wednesday as President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs came into effect today, including a 104% levy on Chinese imports. Markets now view the two economic powers as entrenched in a full-scale trade war.
The only silver lining for the markets and President Trump could be the US Fed changing its stance. Fed chief has been adamant to stick to incoming data to decide on future rate cuts, while Trump is urging him to cut now. Tariffs are inflationary but could have a one-time impact on prices. The Fed will delay decisions until the policy picture is clear, as Powell and his board colleagues have stated.