U.S. Federal Reserve officials were divided over whether to cut interest rates when they gathered in July, according to the minutes of the Fed's latest monetary policy meeting. 

"A couple of participants indicated that they would have preferred a 50 basis point cut in the federal funds rate at this meeting rather than a 25 basis point reduction," said the minutes of the Fed's July 30-31 policy meeting released on Wednesday. 

"They favored a stronger action to better address the stubbornly low inflation rates of the past several years," the minutes said. 

Meanwhile, "several participants" were in favor of leaving interest rates unchanged at last month's meeting, judging that the real economy "continued to be in a good place", the minutes showed.

Last month, Fed officials overall voted to trim the target for the federal funds rate by 25 basis points to a range of two percent to 2.25 percent, the first rate cut since the 2008 global financial crisis. 

"Most participants viewed a proposed quarter-point policy easing at this meeting as part of a recalibration of the stance of policy, or mid-cycle adjustment, in response to the evolution of the economic outlook over recent months," the minutes said, indicating that the move shouldn't be viewed as part of a "pre-set course" for future cuts. 

"Participants generally favored an approach in which policy would be guided by incoming information and its implications for the economic outlook and that avoided any appearance of following a preset course," the minutes said. 

At a press conference following last month's meeting, Fed Chairman Jerome Powell had emphasized that the rate cut is "not the beginning of a long series of rate cuts."

KEEPING IT FLEXIBLE

U.S. stocks held on to session gains after the minutes were released, with the benchmark S&P 500 Index. SPX up about 0.77 percent on the day. 

"The Fed clearly wants to be flexible. They are clearly worried about some of the global tensions that are out there, whether it is trade or Brexit or some of those international developments," said Willie Delwiche, investment strategist at Baird in Milwaukee. 

Yields on longer-dated U.S. Treasury securities rose after the minutes were published. The 10-year note US10YT=RR yield climbed to 1.58 percent, while the 30-year bond US30YT=RR rose further above the key two percent level, the last trading at 2.06 percent. It fell below two percent for the first time ever last week as diminishing expectations for U.S. economic growth fueled demand for safe assets.

The dollar strengthened against the safe-have yen and Swiss franc. 

The comments on Wednesday by Trump, who has repeatedly criticized the Federal Reserve's policies, come as he seeks to downplay worries that a trade war between the United States and China could weigh on the U.S. economy and trigger a possible recession before the November 2020 presidential election.

(With input from Xinhua, Reuters.)