Fed holds inter­est rates steady as hot­ter infla­tion reports push back tim­ing of cut

The Fed­er­al Reserve held its inter­est rate tar­get steady, in line with expec­ta­tions that the tim­ing of rate cuts has been pushed back by stub­born infla­tion.
After a two-day meet­ing of its mon­e­tary pol­i­cy com­mit­tee in Wash­ing­ton, D.C., the Fed­er­al Reserve announced it would keep its rate tar­get at 5.25% to 5.50%. The move was wide­ly telegraphed.
The con­sen­sus among investors, and among the Fed, is that the cen­tral bank is done rais­ing rates and will begin trim­ming them this year — the ques­tion now is when that long-await­ed piv­ot will occur.
The Fed has held rates steady since last rais­ing inter­est rates in July. The cur­rent rate tar­get is still the high­est since 2006, at the out­set of the glob­al finan­cial cri­sis.
Cen­tral bank offi­cials are still anticip …