Fed hikes rates by 25bps to 3.75-4.00%, as expected; unanimous decision

Unanimity cuts both ways: it signals institutional cohesion, which in past cycles has lent durability to the prevailing path, but it also means no dissent trail to map the committee's sensitivity to incoming data. The established sequence for decisions of this kind is an initial shallow move in the front end that reverses or extends once the chair begins speaking, with the 2-year yield and the meeting-to-meeting rate spread doing the actual work. The tells are any shift in the characterisation of the tightening pace, the balance between inflation language and growth or labour acknowledgement, and whether 'ongoing increases' style phrasing survives intact or is softened toward meeting-by-meeting dependence. The calendar follow-on is the next round of official commentary, which historically clarifies whether the statement's ambiguity was deliberate.