There were still 10 members expecting two or more quarter-point cuts this year. But seven now forecast no rate cuts and two are expecting one cut. 

Nearly all US recessions in the last century have been preceded by a spike in oil prices.

The spotlight will instead fall on the BOJ’s updated plan to curtail its purchases of government bonds as it seeks to shrink its footprint in the market.

The main sticking points since May were Beijing’s restrictions on rare earth exports to the US, and Washington’s curbs on the export of chip design technology to China.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the CPI climbing 0.2 per cent and increasing 2.5 per cent year on year.

It followed a revised 4.1 per cent increase in April and marked the slowest year-on-year rise since a 3.1 per cent gain in September.

The Reserve Bank of India lowered its key repo rate by 50 basis points to 5.5 per cent. Most analysts had expected a 25-point cut. It is the third reduction in a row since February.

Fed officials are scheduled to meet June 17-18 in Washington and are widely expected to leave their benchmark rate unchanged, as they have done all year.

The ECB has now lowered borrowing costs eight times, or by two percentage points since last June, seeking to prop up a eurozone economy that was struggling

In the short term, much hinges on trade. Most goods from the European Union are currently subject to a 10 per cent US levy, but that could jump to 50 per cent next month.

Analysts expect another quarter-point reduction that would take the Frankfurt-based institution’s key deposit rate to 2 per cent.

Many analysts expect consumer inflation to slow in coming months as falling crude oil prices and the drop in import costs from the yen's rebound.