Investors piled on bets for higher borrowing costs after Kevin Warsh opted against providing policy guidance at his first meeting as Federal Reserve chairman.

© Anna Rose Layden for The New York Times

Bank of England policymakers kept interest rates on hold, saying the impact of the war in Iran was still a major source of uncertainty for the economy.

© Joseph Horton for The New York Times

Two MPC members vote for a quarter-point rise but Bank argues rapid reaction risks creating volatility

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The Bank of England has left interest rates on hold, arguing that reacting too quickly to inflation threats risked creating “undesirable volatility”, as the Iran war weighs on the UK economy.

Seven of the nine-person monetary policy committee voted to keep rates at 3.75% as the MPC weighed the threat of higher inflation against the prospect of an economic slowdown.

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© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

© Photograph: Tolga Akmen/EPA

The Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in the first meeting led by Kevin Warsh. The decision to maintain rates for a fourth-straight meeting was supported by all 12 members of the Federal Open Market Committee, but new quarterly projections by some Fed officials anticipate a rate hike by the end of the year. Amna Nawaz discussed the future of the Fed under Warsh with David Wessel.

Interest rates didn’t change, but the language in Fed’s policy statement, which it released alongside its rate decision today, certainly did.

Open markets committee says ‘economic activity is expanding at a solid pace’ in first meeting under new chair Kevin Warsh

The US Federal Reserve left interest rates unchanged for the fourth time this year after its first meeting under new chair, Kevin Warsh, a Donald Trump appointee who has taken over the central bank during a tumultuous time for the US economy.

“Economic activity is expanding at a solid pace despite elevated uncertainty that owes, in part, to the conflict in the Middle East,” the Fed’s open market committee said in a short statement. “Productivity growth and capital investment are strong. Job gains have kept pace with the workforce, and the unemployment rate has changed little.”

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© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

© Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

The Federal Reserve kept its key rate unchanged Wednesday yet almost half the central bank's policymakers said they could support a rate hike later this year.

War’s impact on UK cost of living more muted than first forecast suggesting fuel price rises have failed to spill out more widely across UK plc

• UK inflation stays at 2.8% as slowing food prices offset transport costs

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As soon as Iran choked off oil supplies through the strait of Hormuz at the start of March, there were dire warnings about rocketing UK inflation and the drastic action the Bank of England might take to rein it in.

At one point, investors were expecting as many as three quarter-point rises in interest rates before the end of the year – a sharp turnaround from earlier forecasts of rate cuts.

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© Photograph: Ceri Breeze/Alamy

© Photograph: Ceri Breeze/Alamy

© Photograph: Ceri Breeze/Alamy

Surprise ONS figure confounds forecasts of an increase to 3% as Bank of England prepares to set interest rates

UK inflation unexpectedly remained at 2.8% last month as higher transport and fuel costs were offset by slower food price rises.

May’s annual price rise reading recorded by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) came despite economists’ forecasts of a rise to 3% as the Middle East restricted global energy flows.

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© Photograph: Kevin Wheal/Alamy

© Photograph: Kevin Wheal/Alamy

© Photograph: Kevin Wheal/Alamy

Between a surge in interest rates, increasingly restive colleagues and the demands of President Trump, the new Fed chairman, Kevin Warsh, is in a bind.

© Alex Brandon/Associated Press

Governor Michele Bullock delivers a strong message after the Reserve Bank holds the cash rate at 4.35%, ending a run of three rises

• RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank holds official cash rate at 4.35%

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It will take more than a ceasefire in the Middle East to prevent the Reserve Bank from hiking interest rates again.

That was the strong message from the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, after the central bank held its cash rate at 4.35%, putting an end to a run of three increases.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Elevated inflation and the specter of rate increases will greet Kevin M. Warsh in his debut as chairman of the Federal Reserve.

© Haiyun Jiang/The New York Times

Country acts amid Iran war inflation pressures, but US Fed and Bank of England expected to hold rates

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The Bank of Japan (BoJ) has raised interest rates to a 31-year high as it tries to dampen inflationary pressures created by the Iran war.

Policymakers in Tokyo raised the BoJ’s short-term policy rate by a quarter of one percentage point, to 1% from 0.75%, and warned that companies were passing on rising oil costs to each other at a “relatively fast pace”.

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© Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

© Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

© Photograph: Franck Robichon/EPA

Reserve Bank of Australia decision on Tuesday comes after three consecutive cash rate hikes this year

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The Reserve Bank has warned it is ready to raise interest rates further despite leaving its official interest rate on hold at 4.35%.

The widely expected decision on Tuesday will bring little relief to mortgage holders, already strained by the RBA’s three consecutive rate hikes earlier in 2026.

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© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

© Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Going against Prime Minister Takaichi’s wishes, Japan’s central bank acted amid U.S. pressure, a tanking currency and inflation from energy disruptions.

© Jiji Press/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Federal Reserve to make first decision under Kevin Warsh as Middle East hopes ease inflation pressures

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Central banks in the US and UK are expected to leave interest rates on hold this week as the peace deal in the Middle East is expected to ease inflationary pressures.

The US Federal Reserve is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate at a range of 3.5% to 3.75% on Thursday, in what will be the first policy decision under new Fed chair – and Donald Trump’s pick – Kevin Warsh.

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© Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images

© Photograph: Ryan Murphy/Getty Images