[Anchor]
The US Federal Reserve has frozen its benchmark interest rate once again. However, as some officials voiced the need to raise rates to curb inflation, high-tech stocks, including semiconductors, plunged again.
Reporting from New York, this is Kim Beom-joo.
[Reporter]
The US Federal Reserve has frozen its benchmark interest rate at the 3.6% level once again.
The Fed has kept rates on hold at all five meetings held this year, as well as for the second consecutive time since Chair Kevin Warsh took office.
However, while the outcome is the same as before, the internal atmosphere is shifting.
While nine out of the 12 officials attending the rate-setting meeting voted for a freeze, three argued for a rate hike.
At the June meeting, the decision to freeze was unanimous, signaling that the stance to more aggressively use interest rates to tackle inflation is gaining strength.
Chair Warsh also re-emphasized his commitment to achieving the 2% inflation target.
[Kevin Warsh / Fed Chair: The Fed's position is firm. As I've said before, we will achieve price stability.]
More than 70% of market experts expect the Fed to ultimately raise interest rates in September when the next meeting is held.
Amid the possibility of a rate hike, the three major New York stock indexes fell in unison, with high-tech companies that heavily rely on borrowed funds for large-scale investments experiencing even steeper declines.
Memory semiconductor bellwether Micron saw its stock plummet 10%, while the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index, which tracks semiconductor-related stocks, dropped 5.3%.
[Eric Diton / President, Wealth Alliance: Three dissenting votes is by no means a small number. It is clear that a rate hike is imminent, and the market has priced that in.]
The yield on the 30-year US Treasury bond also surpassed 5.2%, reaching its highest level in nearly 20 years, suggesting that market volatility is likely to persist for a while.
(Video taken by Lee Hee-hoon | Video edited by Kim Yoon-sung)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.