- Hezbollah battles troops on border as Israel pounds Lebanon
- Alcaraz, Sinner breeze into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Bagnaia wins Japan MotoGP sprint to cut Martin's lead
- Alcaraz breezes into third round of Shanghai Masters
- Gaza cultural heritage brought to light in Geneva
- 'Bullet for democracy': Trump returns to site of rally shooting
- Italy targets climate activists in 'anti-Gandhi' demo clampdown
- South Korean cult-horror series 'Hellbound' returns at BIFF
- Nepalis fear more floods as climate change melts glaciers
- Honduras arrests environmentalist's alleged murderer
- Padres pitcher Musgrove needs elbow surgery
- Supreme Court lets stand rules to curb mercury, methane emissions
- Boston beat Denver in NBA exhibition season opener, but Jokic says omens are good
- Chagos diaspora angry at lack of input on islands' fate
- Biden says 'not confident' of peaceful US election
- US trade chief defends tariff hikes when paired with investment
- Lukaku stars as Napoli beat Como to hold Serie A top spot
- Ohtani set for MLB playoff debut as Dodgers face Padres
- Pogba's drug ban cut to 18 months from four years
- Devine leads New Zealand to big win over India in Women's T20 World Cup
- Bosnia floods kill 16 people
- EU court blocks French ban on vegetable 'steak' labelling
- Prosecutors seek dismissal of rape charges against French rugby players
- Meta AI turns pictures into videos with sound
- Bolivia's Morales says claims he raped a minor are a 'lie'
- MLB Reds hire two-time champion Francona as manager
- Daniel Maldini receives first Italy call-up for Nations League
- US dockworkers return to ports after three-day strike
- Ancelotti points finger at Madrid's 'lack of intensity'
- Haiti reeling after 70 killed in gang attack
- Five Czech kids in hospital over TikTok 'piercing challenge'
- What happens next in Iran-Israel conflict?
- Country star Garth Brooks denies rape accusations
- Stubbs hits maiden century as South Africa make 343-4 against Ireland
- DR Congo to begin mpox vaccination campaign Saturday in east
- Odegaard injury has forced Arsenal to be 'different', says Arteta
- Ratcliffe refuses to guarantee Ten Hag's Man Utd future
- Meta must limit data use for targeted ads: EU court
- Mauritius to hold legislative election on November 10
- Britain qualify for America's Cup final after 60-year wait
- IMF asks Sri Lanka to protect hard-won gains
- Morata returns to Spain Nations League squad after injury
- Irish regulator to probe Ryanair use of facial recognition
- Public allowed to see video evidence in France mass rape trial
- US hiring soars past expectations in sign of resilient market
- Under-fire Ten Hag 'together' with Man Utd hierarchy
- Guardiola talks of Man City love affair as financial hearing rumbles on
- De Bruyne out of Belgium Nations League squad
- Japanese trainer Yahagi hopes Shin Emperor achieves 50-year-old Arc dream
- UK's Starmer hails 'landmark' carbon capture funding
US Fed begins two-day meeting set to end with rate cut
The US Federal Reserve began a two-day interest rate discussion on Tuesday that is all-but-certain to end with its first cut since March 2020, as inflation continues to ease.
The meeting began at 10:30am in Washington (1430 GMT), the US central bank announced in a statement. The Fed's rate decision will be announced on Wednesday afternoon local time.
Policymakers are widely expected to debate whether to choose a small cut of a quarter of a percentage point, or to make an aggressive half point reduction to the Fed's benchmark lending rate.
The Fed goes into the meeting in an enviable position, with US inflation easing towards its long-term target of two percent, and a resilient-yet-cooling labor market.
Economic growth also remains positive, despite the squeeze in borrowing costs for consumers and businesses because of the Fed's decision to hold its key lending rate at a two-decade high since July last year.
The data raises hopes that the Fed can achieve the rare feat of bringing inflation back down to target without triggering a recession -- known as a "soft landing."
A rate cut of any size would support US consumers, who are feeling the effect of interest rates at a 23-year high of between 5.25 and 5.50 percent, impacting the cost of borrowing on everything from mortgages to car loans.
While a larger cut would do more to push down the cost of borrowing, it also runs the risk of reigniting inflation -- and Fed policymakers are unlikely to support it, according to KPMG chief economist Diane Swonk.
"A larger, one-half percent cut will no doubt be discussed during the meeting, but Fed Chairman Jay Powell is unlikely to have the votes to get a half percent cut in September over the finish line," she wrote in a recent note to clients.
"Either way, we still expect to see a full one percent of cuts prior to year-end, which means at least one outsized cut in September, November or December," she added.
The futures markets price in a probability of around 65 percent that the Fed will announce a half point cut on Wednesday, according to data from CME Group.
V.F.Barreira--PC