The US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady on Wednesday, marking the fifth consecutive unchanged decision since December, even as Donald Trump continues to press for cuts. The federal open market committee's 9-3 vote exposed unusually sharp internal division, with three regional bank presidents dissenting in favour of a quarter-point rise, the first time in a decade that three members have jointly broken with a policy decision. New Fed chair Kevin Warsh said the committee was weighing broader inflation trends rather than reacting to any single data point, and welcomed the open disagreement as a "good family fight" that helps produce better policy.

The dissenters, Lorie Logan of Dallas, Beth Hammack of Cleveland and Neel Kashkari of Minneapolis, argued inflation remains too high and risks skewing further upward given a resilient labour market, while a fragile US-brokered peace deal over the ongoing Iran conflict has pushed energy prices higher again. Warsh, in only his second meeting as chair, has signalled a shift towards less forward guidance and set up five taskforces to rethink the Fed's communications, data use, balance sheet policy, inflation framework and approach to artificial intelligence. Trump has repeatedly attacked the Fed's rate policy, previously targeting former chair Jerome Powell, who remains on the board.