Saying that “Main Street” mattered more to him than volatile financial markets, nevertheless the volatility and developments overseas had the “possibility but not certainty” of having some impact on the domestic economy, he added.

John Williams, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, another centrist who is a voting member of the policymaking committee, said much the same on Saturday. Markets are looking at either of those meetings for a decision on whether to lift rates for the first time in more than nine years.

The New Zealand dollar fell as Federal Reserve official Dennis Lockhart talked up the chances of U.S. rate hike coming this year, the third Fed official to support higher interest rates since last week’s meeting, and stoking demand for the greenback.

Yellen will deliver a speech on september 24 in Amherst, Mass.s, granting herself another opportunity to communicate the Fed’s policy view.

“Frustration over the Fed’s vague rate hike plans helped cause the Dow to drop nearly 300 points on Friday“, said CNN Money’s Matt Egan.

Fed Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said on Monday that “the case for policy normalization is quite strong“, even after <strong>the Fedstrong> kept its benchmark <strong>ratestrong> unchanged last week.

Previous year Reuters reported that at a private dinner with investors in New York City, former Fed chair Ben Bernanke remarked that he does not expect rates to normalize in his lifetime. Inventories of existing homes on the market rose 1.3% to 2.29 million, representing 5.2 months’ supply at current sales trends.

Specifically, Yellen acknowledged that the Fed “focused particularly” on the slowdown in China and its spillover effects such as lower oil prices and trouble for various emerging markets.

“But instead, investors were treated to a gloomy outlook about China“, Antonelli said.

The six-month Treasury bill rate in Monday’s auction was the lowest since those bills averaged 0.100 percent on July 13. In addition to declining to raise interest rates on Thursday the Fed also cut its expectations for future GDP growth, inflation, and interest rates over the long-term.

The Fed’s decision has been characterised by other policy makers as a “close call” after a “pressure-packed” meeting.

Regional currencies were on the retreat amid concerns that an interest rate hike would spark an outflow of capital from emerging markets to seek higher returns.