Monetary policy

Federal Reserve officials were less united at their June meeting than their unanimous decision suggested, as some favored interest-rate increases but went along with the move to leave policy unchanged.

After holding at its last meeting, the Federal Open Market Committee may decide to raise rates again in July.

Powell is set to appear on Capitol Hill this week for his semi-annual monetary policy testimony, the first time the Fed chief will answer questions from Congress in public since early March.

In a speech, the Federal Reserve Board governor said tighter monetary policy is not to blame for the volatility seen in the banking system this spring.

Analysts agree with the market that the Federal Open Market Committee will hold rates in a range of 5% to 5.25%, but guidance will suggest a future hike.

"If the banking stresses start to bring inflation down for us, then maybe we're getting closer to being done. I just don't know right now," said Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis President Neel Kashkari.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell gave a clear signal he is inclined to pausing interest-rate increases next month and said that tighter credit conditions could mean the policy peak will be lower.

Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Lorie Logan said the case for pausing interest rate increases at the central bank's June meeting isn't yet clear, while her colleague Gov, Philip Jefferson sounded ready to be patient.

The FOMC meets June 13-14. Join us June 15 at 2 p.m., Eastern time, as Jeffrey Cleveland, chief economist at Payden & Rygel, provides his take on the meeting statement, Federal Reserve Board Chair Jerome Powell's press conference and the latest Fed projections.

Two Federal Reserve officials signaled they favored pausing interest rate increases, while a third policymaker said the central bank's task in subduing inflation was not complete.