The last FOMC meeting in May occurred a month after the reciprocal tariff pause was announced on April 9. Equities had just gone through a V-shape recovery, entering and then shooting out of a Bear market. The key messages of Chairman Powell’s press conference was the current uncertainty and need for patience, and that despite all of the recent events, the economy was in good shape. Coming into today’s meeting investors widely expected the Federal Reserve to keep rates unchanged and there were no surprises on that front. The language within the statement describing growth, employment and inflation was virtually unchanged. The only change was the suggestion that the uncertainty “has diminished but remains elevated” which the Chairman later said was a line taken directly from the Teal Book.

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