Deciphering the Fed decision: Wall Street expects no cuts until at least June

In sum, there was little in [Wednesday's] statement to suggest the FOMC is contemplating another rate cut in the near future,

Wells Fargo chief economist Jay Bryson said in a note

In light of [Wednesday's] message, we remain comfortable with our standing forecast that the FOMC will deliver two more 25bp cuts in June and December this year and one more in 2026,

Goldman Sachs economist David Mericle said in a note

We didn't learn a lot from the Fed … And that is probably exactly as the Fed intended,

wrote Aditya Bhave, senior U.S. economist at Bank of America

We think near-term rate cuts will be dependent on inflation and, likely, delayed tariff implementation,

Morgan Stanley chief U.S. economist Michael Gapen wrote

Jerome Powellfed Chair

With our policy stance significantly less restrictive than it had been, and the economy remaining strong, we do not need to be in a hurry to adjust our policy stance,

Powell told reporters after the decision

Jerome Powellfed Chair

I'm not going to have any response or comment on whatever the president said,

Powell said

We are all in wait-and-see mode, including the Fed,

she said

As has been our practice over many administrations, we are working to align our policies with the executive orders as appropriate and consistent with applicable law,

he said

Jerome Powellfed Chair

I would note that the Committee's 2 percent longer-run inflation goal will be retained and will not be a focus of the review,

said Powell

Jerome Powellfed Chair

If the economy remains strong and inflation does not continue to move sustainably toward 2 percent, we can maintain policy restraint for longer. If the labor market were to weaken unexpectedly or inflation were to fall more quickly than anticipated, we can ease policy accordingly,

said Powell

Jerome Powellfed Chair

Over the course of our three previous meetings, we lowered our policy rate by a full percentage point from its peak. That recalibration or policy stance was appropriate in light of the progress on inflation and the rebalancing in the labor market,

Powell told reporters

The Committee judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate,

the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), the central bank's policy-setting body, said in a statement after a two-day meeting

Jerome Powellfed Chair

We don't know what will happen with tariffs, with immigration, with fiscal policy, and with regulatory policy,

said Powell

In support of its goals, the Committee decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 4-1/4 to 4-1/2 percent,

the statement said

I think that the the activities of the NGFS are not a good fit for the Fed, given our current mandate,

he said

Jerome Powellfed Chair

It's not appropriate" to comment on what the president says

Powell said Wednesday when asked

Republican political pressure on the Fed will be felt across all angles of the Fed’s activity, even if Powell’s strategy seems to be to preserve monetary policy independence even at the cost of surrendering autonomy in other areas,

LH Meyer's Derek Tang wrote last week

If the Fed had spent less time on DEI, gender ideology, 'green' energy, and fake climate change, Inflation would never have been a problem,

Trump wrote on Truth Social, promising he would fix inflation with his policies

Jerome Powellfed Chair

I’m aware of how it can look but it was really not driven by politics,

Powell said of the decision

Maximum two cuts this year. And I mean maximum, I'm not predicting two cuts. I just think that's the most you can possibly think about, ... At the present moment, if you had made me pick a number, I would say now one cut would be the base case and maximum two."

Gundlach said on CNBC's "Closing Bell."