US Fed raises interest rates

The US Federal Reserve raised rates yesterday in its first meeting under Chairman Jerome Powell.

"The economic outlook has strengthened in recent months," the Fed said in a statement following its two-day Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

The Fed lifted the federal funds rate, which helps determine rates for mortgages, credit cards and other borrowing, to a range of 1.5% to 1.75%. That was an increase of a quarter of a percentage point, CNN reported.

It was the sixth increase since December 2015, when the Fed started tightening monetary policy for the first time after the financial crisis. Rates are still extremely low by historical standards.