When Jean Chalopin applied to buy a tiny bank in Washington state nearly three years ago, he promised to bring ATM cards and other innovations to a place with few local banking options.

‍The 10-year Treasury yield has climbed to just over 3.5% in the past year, while the S&P 500 has fallen by almost 9%. This is due to the Federal Reserve increasing interest rates in order to reduce inflation. However, concerns remain as inflation has fallen for the 6th consecutive month. The consumer-price index fell by 0.1% in December, compared to a 0.1% increase in November. The cost of services is still a problem, but overall inflation is slowly decreasing.

Policymakers are widely expected to raise rates by a quarter percentage point at the conclusion of a two-day gathering on Wednesday. This would slow the rate of increase from December, when rates were raised by 50 basis points, to a range of 4.5% to 4.75%. This would be the fifth straight increase of 75 basis points. In December, Fed officials projected that they would pause when rates moved above 5%. However, Wall Street traders believe that the Fed will actually halt slightly below that level.‍

European markets closed lower on Monday as investors focused on the next U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, which begins on Tuesday.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce its eighth consecutive rate hike at this week’s policy meeting.