Fed holds rates at 3.75%-4% in 10-2 vote as two seek a hike

The Federal Reserve left its benchmark interest rate unchanged in a range of 3.75% to 4% on October 29, with the Federal Open Market Committee splitting 10-2, according to Yahoo Finance, which published an item from The Motley Fool.

The two dissenters, Lisa D. Cook and Beth M. Hammack, favored an increase of a quarter percentage point. At its September meeting, the committee voted unanimously to raise the rate by a quarter point to the current range.

Prediction markets had put the chance of no change above 90%, and the reaction in equities was muted. The S&P 500 gained less than 0.5% after the announcement, with narrower advances in the other two main stock gauges, the report said. The 10-year Treasury yield rose roughly 1%.

The post-meeting statement was little changed from September's, with four edits. The committee described economic growth as "strong" rather than solid, and dropped language saying the policy move would support a faster return to its 2% inflation target, substituting a line about gathering more information before setting the appropriate stance.

In a Reuters poll of 100 economists conducted in October, 94 correctly predicted the hold, and all 100 expected an increase at the December 9 meeting.

This story was first reported by Yahoo Finance.