Traders bet Fed will follow June ‘skip’ with summer hike

(Reuters) – Traders added to bets the Federal Reserve will soon be back to raising U.S. interest rates after skipping a hike in June, following the publication of U.S. central bank forecasts showing most policymakers believe they will need to tighten monetary policy further.

Futures contracts tied to the Fed’s policy rate fell after the Fed published those forecasts and its decision to hold policy steady for now. Traders now see about a three-to-one chance that the Fed will raise rates again next month, based on futures contracts prices.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Diane Craft)