War narrows Fed path to a rate cut

THE ESCALATING CONFLICT in the Middle East has narrowed the Federal Reserve’s path to lower interest rates this year, as surging energy prices have injected fresh uncertainty into the economic outlook.

- COLBY SMITH

Jerome H. Powell, the Fed chair, sought on Wednesday to keep the central bank’s policy options open after officials voted to hold borrowing costs steady at their first meeting since the onset of the Iran war. But even as Powell tried to avoid sending an explicit signal in any direction about where rates might be headed, it quickly became clear that a cut this year is by no means guaranteed.