Investing.com -- When the Federal Open Market Committee last met in late-April, only a few of its members supported an interest rate hike in June, according to minutes released from the meeting on Wednesday.
At the same time, the majority of the FOMC rejected issuing an explicit warning of a rate hike in the statement of the meeting in the month prior to when it decides to institute a rate hike.
The Fed reiterated that it will take a "data-driven" approach to lift-off when it is reasonably confident it has seen significant improvements in the economy. The Fed also blamed weak first quarter GDP growth on "largely transitory factors" such as severe winter weather and a West Coast port slowdown that dented exports. Historically, economic growth has been comparatively weak in the first quarter in recent years, the FOMC added.
Still, the Fed is confident the economy can rebound over the second quarter due to low interest rates, high consumer confidence and rising real income among average American workers.
The Fed remains concerned that interest rates could spike after initial lift-off, citing the possibility of an increased role of high frequency trading, decreases in inventories held by broker-dealers and the potential for higher assets in bond funds.
There was little reaction in the U.S. equities and foreign exchange markets following the release. Roughly 25 minutes after the release, the Dow Jones Industrial Average stood at 18,317 (up 0.03% on the day). In the final minutes before the release, the Dow was down approximately 40 points on the session at 18,275.
The U.S. Dollar Index, which measures the strength of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, fell slightly to 95.50, from 95.66, 15 minutes before the release.