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Research - APRIL 30, 2015

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Fed maintains interest rates at April meeting

by Zoe Loza

The Federal Open Market Committee decided against raising the federal funds rate at its two-day meeting on April 28 and 29. Noting that economic weakness since the March meeting was in part due to “transitory factors,” the Fed maintained its current target range of 0 percent to 0.25 percent.

The Fed also did not include any specific calendar-based guidance about when a rate hike may occur. According to a statement released after the meeting, “it will be appropriate to raise the target range for the federal funds rate when [the committee] has seen further improvement in the labor market and is reasonably confident that inflation will move back to its 2 percent objective over the medium term.”

Following the meeting, stocks dipped lower. The S&P 500 Index dropped 0.4 percent on April 29, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed 0.4

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