Rates to rise as oil, housing prices jump

[Stockholm]

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Costly energy and stratospheric U.S. housing prices are probably enough to keep Federal Reserve policy-makers from signaling an end on Thursday to the rate-rise cycle they began exactly a year ago.

Analysts polled by Reuters predicted a ninth straight quarter percentage point rise in the federal funds rate -- to 3.25 percent -- when the Federal Open Market Committee releases its decision at about 2:15 p.m. EDT (1815 GMT).

Even with signs of softness in manufacturing, most economists felt the U.S. central bank policy-makers would restate their intention to keep raising rates at a "measured" pace, implying another rise in August to curb inflation.

"I think the Fed is going to keep raising rates until the fed funds rate is at a level that it considers closer to neutral," said economist Rich Yamarone of Argus Research Corp. in New York.

http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2005-06-30T050931Z_01_N30505266_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-ECONOMY-FED-DC.XML

[MsTryska]

1. ran across this interesting thread

today - the original post isn't all that exciting - but the subsequent replys are chock-full of interesting bits:

http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/hotproperty/archives/2005/07/past_housing_bu.html