Fed triggers lift-off with first hike since 2018

40 year high

The Federal Reserve raised interest rates by 0.25% on Wednesday evening (16 March), marking the central bank’s first hike since 2018.

The move came as inflation in the United States hit a 40-year high of 7.9% in February.  While the hike had been expected, the Fed had introduced a "hawkish surprise" with a shift in the dot plot, according to Nick Chatters, investment manager at Aegon Asset Management. The Fed is now expecting seven hikes throughout this year. However, one member of the committee projected that the midpoint of rates will be over 3% by the end of 2022, while another predicted it will be less than 1.5%. Chatters explained that the shift in the dot plot had caused a "move in markets, with front-end y...