The case for the Federal Reserve to forgo an interest-rate hike strengthened in the eyes of some central bank watchers on Sunday following a coordinated global move to ease growing financial strains.
Ahead of the weekend, most economists had been forecasting that the Fed would raise its benchmark rate by a quarter percentage point on Wednesday, to a range of 4.75% to 5%, extending a yearlong campaign to stamp out inflation.
On Sunday afternoon, however, the Fed and five other central banks announced action to boost liquidity in U.S. dollar swap arrangements by increasing the frequency of access to daily from weekly — echoing actions taken during other moments of crisis.