Projection For Inflation

Minutes Show Fed Still On Track For Three Rate Hikes , The Federal Reserve is on track to raise interest rates gradually over the course of the year, according to the minutes of the central bank's most recent meeting. 

Markets were paying close attention for any hints that policy will be different under new Fed Chair Jerome Powell, who replaced Janet Yellen at the behest of President Donald Trump. However, the minutes were a yawner. 

They firmly imply that the Fed still plans to raise interest rates three times in 2018, with the first of these modest rate hikes coming in March. 

Powell will hold a press conference after that meeting to talk markets out of a potential tantrum. Stocks fell sharply in recent weeks as signs of inflation spooked investors worried about a more rapid rise in interest rates. 

The Fed raised its projection for inflation from anemic levels, saying that core personal consumption expenditure index "would rise notably faster this year" from its 1.5% rate in December. 

However, only a "couple" of policy makers saw risk of an inflation outbreak or an overheated economy. On the whole, the Fed said the economy was "strengthening" from late in 2017. The strengthening "increased the likelihood that a gradual upward trajectory of the federal funds rate would be appropriate," pointing toward "further gradual increases."