From Bank of America Merrill Lynch
The Federal Reserve will be releasing its statement without a press conference or Summary of Economic Projections (SEP), which offers market participants less information to digest. We do not expect policy changes, with the FOMC holding rates at the 50-75bp range and maintaining the reinvestment policy. However, we do expect changes to the language. In particular, we think the Fed will highlight the reduction in labor market slack and perhaps note that confidence measures have improved. In our view, these changes would be perceived as a bit more hawkish. The market is pricing in just over two hikes this year and another two in 2018 (Chart of the day).
