Fed Chair Jerome Powell defended the Federal Open Meeting Committee’s universal decision to hold the Federal Funds Rate steady at 4.25% - 4.50% in June. The FOMC’s “wait and see” approach to the funds rate was in keeping, Powell said, with the Fed’s dual mandate of prudent monetary policy.

The cost of living rose slowly in May for the third month in a row, but the rate of inflation is probably still too high for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates soon against the backdrop of ongoing trade wars.