Fed Rate-Hike Odds Turn Into A Coin Flip Ahead Of Sept. 16 Meeting

According to Axios, comments from Federal Reserve officials Christopher Waller and John Williams have pushed expectations for a mid-September rate decision back into doubt, with CME's FedWatch tool now showing the odds of a rate hike at the Sept. 16 meeting as essentially even. Waller said he would support holding rates steady if August inflation data continues to improve, but said he would be open to a hike if that improvement proves fleeting. Williams said the Fed should wait and see whether an increase is needed, adding that there are no clear signs yet on whether policy is sufficient to bring inflation back to target over the next year or two. The remarks came after Kevin Warsh said the Fed must be confident underlying inflation is moving to its objective at a sufficient pace or else it has work to do.