Faced with a solid economy and mounting inflation concerns, the U.S. central bank has said it will “move cautiously” on cutting interest rates.

Policymakers left their benchmark rate unchanged amid signs that the economy is humming along, defying the president’s tradition-bucking pressure on the central bank.

As was widely expected, the U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates at current levels following the conclusion of its latest policy meeting.

Federal Reserve officials held interest rates steady, pausing to assess the inflation outlook following a string of rate reductions last year.

Stocks fell after the Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady at its January meeting. The Nasdaq Composite was down 1.1%. The move to pause cutting rates was widely expected by traders, so Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s press conference at 2:30 p.

Since the Fed's first September rate cut, the fed funds rate has been slashed by 100 basis points. The U.S. 10-year Treasury yield, however, has gone in the opposite direction, rising to 4.6% fro 3.6% — a divergence between short-term and long-term rates that rarely has been seen.

The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to hold interest rates steady on Wednesday as it awaits further inflation and jobs data and more clarity on the economic impact of President Donald Trump's policies before deciding whether to cut borrowing costs again.

The U.S. Federal Reserve kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged Wednesday, less than a week after President Donald Trump said he would demand rate reductions. After the two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting,