US could wait until next summer to raise interest rates, say economists

Surveyed experts predicted last week's rate rise would be followed by two more next year, not three

The Federal Reserve could wait until at least next summer before raising interest rates again, according to Wall Street economists surveyed by the Financial Times. Expectations that a rate rise last week by the US central bank would be followed by three more next year were played down by the 31 economists surveyed, who predicted only two rises were likely.

The New York Dow Jones index soared last week to within 160 points of a record 20,000 amid forecasts that a huge stimulus package in the first year of Donald Trump's presidency would trigger an economic boom.