* Fed's Musalem: Appropriate for Rates to Rise Over Next 6 to 9 Months

By Dean Seal U.S. interest rates may need to climb for the next six to nine months to subdue inflation, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President Alberto Musalem said, setting a tentative timeline for further monetary tightening. Speaking at a Bloomberg conference on fixed income, Musalem said the Fed is focused on bringing inflation back to the central bank's 2% target in a timely manner, which he described as roughly 18 months. "If the timing is 18 months, that suggests rates ought to be going up further in an appropriate period of time, in the next six to nine months," the St. Louis Fed president said. The prospect of further rate increases after last month's boost is now a foregone conclusion for many Fed officials, according to the minutes of their latest meeting, which were released Wednesday. Investors are now looking for signals on the timing of those increases. Most officials said at their last meeting that they expect another increase sometime in 2026. The rate-setting committee is scheduled to reconvene later this month and again in December. Write to Dean Seal at dean.seal@wsj.com (END) Dow Jones Newswires October 08, 2026 14:32 ET (18:32 GMT) Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. The statements in this document shall not be considered as an objective or independent explanation of the matters. Please note that this document (a) has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research, and (b) is not subject to any prohibition on dealing ahead of the dissemination or publication of investment research.