Fed won't cut rates this year, Goldman analyst says

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve will more likely than not leave interest rates unchanged this year, defying expectations now built into financial markets for several rate cuts, a Goldman Sachs economist told investors in a note Monday.

"Although it is a close call, we still expect the FOMC to keep the funds rate unchanged in the remainder of the year," economist Jan Hatzius wrote, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee. Fed Chair Jerome Powell's promise to act "as appropriate" was not meant to signal a rate cut, he said, but was merely meant to show the U.S. central bank was not tone deaf to rising trade tensions.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir)

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