Key Points
Oct 27 (Reuters) - U.S. Federal Reserve officials will likely leave their policy rate on hold at next week's meeting thanks in large part to a new dynamic unfolding before them: Other forces are finally doing the work for them...
While the benchmark rate they set every six weeks or so has sat unchanged since July - a horizon that now looks to extend to December if not longer - rates on the open market that determine borrowing costs for businesses and consumers have kept climbing and now look poised to finally slow what has been a surprisingly strong economy...
The Fed's latest survey on banking conditions won't be published until the Monday after next week's meeting, but past practice suggests findings from its October Senior Loan Officer Opinion Survey, or SLOOS, are in policymakers' hands this week...
Data published from Fed surveys currently in the public domain shows banks have already tightened standards for all kinds of business and consumer loans, demand for most types of loans has weakened, and growth for all stripes of loans has slowed...
And a yearlong decline in loan demand accelerated in the second half of September, according to a twice-quarterly Dallas Fed survey of Texas banking conditions that closely tracks the Fed's national survey...
