Traders keep bets on Fed rate hike later this year

U.S. short-term interest rate futures rose slightly on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve decided to keep rates steady for now but set the stage for an interest rate hike in December.

The price increase suggests traders may be trimming bets on a rate hike later this year, but not enough to signal a change in their overall view that the Fed will raise rates at its next meeting. Before the report traders saw about a 73 percent chance of a December rate hike, and were betting on one more rate hike in 2017.

The price of futures contracts tied to the Fed's benchmark policy rate moves inversely to the rate that traders expect at any given point in time.

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Richard Chang)