FOMC minutes: Members agreed rates should stay restrictive for some time

• Federal Reserve released the minutes from its September 19-20 meeting.
• The minutes showed that officials saw risks to achieving goals had become more two-sided.
• US Dollar drops marginally after the minutes. 

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) released the minutes of its September meeting, which had a limited reaction across financial markets. According to the document, members generally judged the risks to achieving goals had become more two-sided. Most members continued to see upside risks to inflation.

At the September meeting, the Federal Reserve (Fed) decided to maintain the federal funds rate within the range of 5.25% to 5.5%, as expected. The staff projections showed the possibility of another rate hike before the end of the year. The next FOMC decision is on November 1.

Market reaction

The US Dollar Index is rising after falling for five consecutive days, hovering slightly below 106.00. It remains around that area after the minutes, that have little impact on markets.