On Monday, the Federal Reserve Committee concluded its two-day monetary policy meeting.Reduce the federal fund interest rate target range by 25 basis points to 4.00% to 4.25%¡£ This is the first time the Federal Reserve has cut interest rates in 2025 and another rate cut after three rate cuts in 2024. As soon as the news came out, investors began to evaluate the Fed's interest rate decision and forecast, and U.S. stocks were moved by the news. At the same time, whether the Federal Reserve can maintain its independence has renewed concerns.

Employment growth slows, risk balance changes, Federal Reserve cuts interest rates

The Federal Open Market Commission, the Federal Reserve¡¯s decision-making agency, issued a statement on Thursday saying that U.S. economic activity growth has slowed in the first half of this year, employment growth has slowed, unemployment rates have risen slightly, inflation has risen and remained high to some extent.The committee noted the risks faced by the task and ruled that the downward risks to employment have increased.To support the committee¡¯s achievement of its objectives and taking into account the shift in risk balance, the committee decided to lower the range of federal fund interest rate targets from 25 basis points to 4.00% to 4.25%.

Fed forecasts show that,It will reduce interest rates by 50 basis points by the end of the year and 25 basis points annually over the next two years.¡£ In addition, the Federal Reserve released the latest economic outlook forecast on the 17th, in which the "dot plot" shows that 9 of the 19 Federal Reserve officials expect to cut interest rates twice this year, 2 expect to cut interest rates again, and 6 think there will be no further interest rate cuts.

Powell: It's a tricky situation

On the 17th, after the monetary policy meeting, Federal Reserve Chairman Powell held a press conference at the Federal Reserve headquarters. At the press conference, Powell said: "In the short term, the risk of inflation is upward and the risk of employment downward ¨C this is a tough situation.When our goals conflict like this, our framework requires us to balance between the two aspects of the dual mission.

17th Anniversary Increase.

On the 17th, after the Federal Reserve cut its benchmark interest rate, the U.S. stock market closed mixed. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up 260.42 points, or 0.57%, after briefly turning lower; The S&P 500 closed down 0.1%; The Nasdaq Composite Index closed down 0.33%.

In addition, the US dollar index fell 0.4 percent after the Fed announced its decision, but after Powell¡¯s press conference, the index wiped out the drop and rose 0.3 percent.

The US media,Stocks have rebounded in recent weeks on expectations that the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates, but the results are still not enough to trigger big swings in stocks¡£

A strategist at JPMorgan asset management said the U.S. labor market is becoming weak, so the Federal Reserve thinks it¡¯s appropriate to cut interest rates, but they won¡¯t cut interest rates soon because of inflation as well.

An economist at the Oxford Institute of Economics said: ¡°The accompanying ¡®point map¡¯ shows that there are serious disagreements within the committee on whether further interest rate cuts are needed this year.¡±

Trump¡¯s chief economic adviser joins the Fed to maintain independence

Since taking office in January this year, US President Trump has continued to pressure the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates, believing that lowering borrowing costs will promote economic growth. Trump resorted to various means of pressure, including criticizing the Federal Open Market Committee and Powell and trying to fire Powell, "inserting" his chief economic adviser Stephen Miran into the committee (Milan served the Fed while still retaining his position in the Trump administration), and trying to remove Fed Governor Lisa Cook. A series of actions have caused the outside world to worry that the Federal Reserve will lose its independence under pressure.

According to a statement issued by the Federal Open Market Commission on 17th, the commission¡¯s vote resulted in 11 to 1, with Milan casting the only vote against, and he advocated a rate reduction of 50 basis points. Additionally, the ¡°point chart¡± shows that there is an official who supports a massive rate reduction in 2025 and according to U.S. Consumer News and Business Channel reports that the official thinks it will be a rate reduction of 125 basis points this year, and the official may be Milan.

At the press conference,Reporters asked Powell how the Federal Reserve could retain its independence in the public eye after it joined Milan. Powell answered briefly, saying, ¡°We are firmly committed toining independence and I have nothing else to share.¡±