The Minutes of the FOMC Meeting Are the Focus, Here's What Traders Need to Know!

<p>&nbsp;Minutes of the Federal Reserve's June meeting are set to be released early Thursday morning, which is likely to show an active debate among policymakers who are still on balance looking to support more action to tame inflation.</p><p><br /></p><p>Minutes of the meeting, scheduled to be released at 2 am on Thursday. Key policymakers such as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell have pointed to forecasts released at the FOMC that suggest another half-percentage point tightening this year is still in the offing.</p><p><br /></p><p>"Policymakers believe that there is more work to be done including the possibility of appropriate rate hikes" later this year, Powell said last Thursday in an appearance with other central bank chiefs in Portugal.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>But on the other hand, there are those who feel that it is enough. Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said last Thursday that he believed no more rate hikes were needed, noting that "data, survey results and intelligence on the ground make a reasonable case that the gradual reduction in inflation will continue." He added, "that will happen even if policymakers don't raise the federal funds rate."</p><p><br /></p><p>The minutes will explain the deliberations that allowed the Fed, after more than a year of very aggressive rate hikes, to keep the overnight target rate between 5% and 5.25%. Interest rates are near zero in March 2022 and have risen rapidly as Fed officials have sought to tame the worst levels of inflation in decades.</p><p><br /></p><p>The meeting minutes will also add details of what officials and their staff hope for the economy, and some are watching the views of central bank staff with particular interest.</p>