Minutes from the FOMC meeting that took place in March has just been released. The publication did not trigger any major moves on the markets, however stock indexes attempt to erase some of the recent losses. During the last meeting, Fed raised the target for the fed funds rate by a quarter-point to 0.25%-0.5%, in line with market expectations. It wass the first increase in borrowing costs since 2018. Today markets were primarily focused on details regarding balance sheet reduction. The release showed Fed officials consider it would be appropriate to move the stance of monetary policy toward a neutral posture expeditiously and that a move to tighter policy could be warranted, depending on economic and financial developments. On the balance sheet reduction, officials agreed that monthly caps of about $60 billion for Treasury securities and $35 billion for MBS would likely be appropriate. The minutes also showed that many participants would have preferred a 50bps increase in the feds funds rate in March.
US500 rose slighlty following the release of FOMC minutes. Source: xStation5
