Market Brief, North America

The dollar is advancing against most of its peers and financial markets are broadly holding steady ahead of this afternoon’s Federal Reserve decision. The world’s most powerful central bank is almost-universally expected to stay on hold—and the accompanying statement should remain essentially unchanged—but Chair Jerome Powell’s words in the post-decision press conference will be closely scrutinised for hints as to whether a rate cut could come at the March meeting. Yields have retreated from their recent highs, driven by a modest softening in incoming survey data, market turmoil, relatively-dovish rhetoric from Fed officials, and a rush among investors to top-tick...