Traders price out June rate hike after Fed officials talk about skipping increase

Fed-funds futures traders on Wednesday pulled back on bets for a June rate hike after a pair of Federal Reserve officials said it might be appropriate to skip an increase at the central bank’s next policy meeting. Fed-funds futures reflect a 39% probability of a quarter-point hike in the fed-funds rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.5% in June, down from 66.6% on Tuesday, according to the CME FedWatch tool. “I am in the camp increasingly coming into this meeting thinking that we really should skip, not pause, but skip an increase,” said Philadelphia Fed President Patrick Harker in public remarks Wednesday. Separately, Fed Gov….