FOMC Meeting May Be Game Changer For 2018

Investing.com - The Federal Reserve's March 20-21 FOMC meeting is the most eagerly awaited one since the central bank decided to begin raising interest rates two years ago.For one, it's the first under new Fed chairman Jerome Powell, who's recent appearances before Congress made some observers conclude he is more hawkish than his predecessor Janet Yellen.More importantly, the Fed may make it clear that the interest rate equation has changed since its December meeting, when it raised the federal funds rate to a target level of 1.25% and 1.50% and maintained plans for three additional hikes in 2018.At least one FOMC member has said that developments since then -- namely a pickup in economic growth and the Trump administration's fiscal stimulus -- probably warrant a four-rate-hike approach in 2018, beginning with one at the March meeting. Chairman Powell himself hinted at that possibility during his congressional hearings, saying his outlook for the economy has strengthened.Even if the FOMC doesn't explicitly state a change in policy, it may provide strong clues to which way it is leaning in its new summary of economic projections for GDP growth, inflation and the unemployment rate.