Two, not three, US Fed interest rate hikes expected in 2019: analysts

Singapore

ANALYSTS expect the United States Federal Reserve to hike interest rates twice instead of thrice this year, with the Fed Funds rate forecast at 3 per cent.

In their Global Outlook 2019, OCBC analysts said that "a gradual rate hike trajectory remains intact", citing the US's strong quarter-on-quarter annualised gross domestic product (GDP) growth of 3.4 per cent in the third quarter; unemployment holding at a low 3.7 per cent with few signs of wage inflation; and core personal consumption expenditure inflation edging towards but remaining short of the 2 per cent target.