Mubasher: The Fed officials were divided on future interest rates hikes at their meeting in January, the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) showed.

Many of the Fed officials stressed the need for more hikes if the US inflation rises above the expected figures.

Some officials indicated the necessity of keeping interest rates unchanged in December, given the uncertainty engulfed the global economy and the deterioration of the US consumer and business sentiment.

As for the Fed balance sheet, the majority of participants of the Fed meeting opted for the reduction of the balance sheet later in 2019.

“The state of the economy is in flux and clearly there are disagreements on the Fed about what to do. But there is a growing consensus on the Fed about the balance sheet operation,” chief economist at FAO Economics, Robert Brusca, said, quoted by MarketWatch.