Rate rise in October remains a possibility, Fed's Yellen says

“As I have said, every meeting is a ‘live’ meeting,” US Fed chair Janet Yellen said in response to a question from a journalist at the press conference following the FOMC’s decision.

“October remains a possibility,” Yellen added.

Many analysts expected the Fed chair to continue to keep markets “on their toes” as she appeared to do.

As of 19:48 the yield on the benchmark 10-year US Treasury note was falling nine basis points to 2.21%.

In parallel, the Dow Jones Industrials had hit an intraday high of 16,933.

“I can’t give you an exact recipe for what exactly we are looking to see [before raising rates] … further labour market strength could do that,” she also said.

Her remarks echoed the FOMC policy statement, which referenced “solid jobs growth” although "market-based measures of inflation compensation moved lower".

“The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced,” the FOMC went on to say.

Regarding recent volatility in global capital markets and weakness overseas, Yellen said Thursday’s Fed decision should not be interpreted as signalling that their confidence has been “significantly undermined”.