WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve officials were mostly optimistic about the U.S. and global economies last month, though they noted the risk posed by China’s viral outbreak and said they were ready to keep their benchmark interest rate at its current low level in the coming months.

Fed policymakers observed at their Jan. 28-29 meeting that risks to the U.S. economy had faded since their previous meeting in December, according to minutes released Wednesday. The Trump administration had reached a preliminary trade agreement with China, and Congress approved an updated trade pact with Canada and Mexico.

Still, “a number of downside risks remained prominent,” officials said, including the coronavirus, which “had emerged as a new risk to the global growth outlook.”

Many Fed watchers have interpreted that caution as a sign that the Fed’s next move, whenever it occurs, is more likely to be a cut, rather than hike.

The minutes of the Fed’s meeting showed officials were ready to keep key rate at a range of 1.5 percent to 1.75 percent for the foreseeable future. Rates at that level would help the U.S. economy withstand threats from slower growth overseas, policymakers said. Persistently ultra-low inflation as measured by the Fed has a been hallmark of the economic expansion, now in its 11th year.

The officials “viewed the current stance of policy as likely to remain appropriate for a time, provided that incoming information about the economy remained broadly consistent” with their positive outlook, the minutes showed.