Fed Minutes Flip The Script: Officials Open Door To Rate Hike

The Federal Reserve walked into its April meeting expecting to talk about cutting rates.
It walked out debating when to raise them.
Minutes from the April 28-29 meeting, released Wednesday afternoon, showed a striking shift in the tone of the Federal Open Market Committee.
The Middle East conflict, which has kept the Strait of Hormuz blocked since late February, has pushed oil higher, lifted near-term inflation expectations, and forced policymakers to seriously entertain a scenario most had dismissed only months earlier: that the next move on rates could be up, not down.
According to the minutes, a majority of officials signaled that some policy tightening would likely become appropriate if inflation were to continue running persistently above 2%.
Many participants said they would have p