Fed defies Trump, hikes rate for fourth time in 2018: Key takeaways

Defying pressure from the US President Donald Trump to pause rate hikes, the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates by a quarter-point on Wednesday, thus taking the target range for its benchmark funds rate to 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent. The move marked the fourth increase this year and the ninth since it began normalising rates in December 2015.

Although this rate hike was widely expected, Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments that the central bank would continue to reduce the size of its balance sheet at the current pace and it will keep hiking rates if data justified,