November US Federal Reserve meeting: US Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell is expected to announce a quarter percentage point interest rate cut at the end of today’s two-day monetary policy meeting.

The Federal Open Market Committee or FOMC at its last meeting in September had announced a 50 basis point (bps) interest rate cut for the first time in four years. This time around, analysts and investors are penciling in a smaller rate cut of 25 bps.

Aside from the rate decision announcement, investors around the world will be closely watching Powell’s commentary on the economic outlook.

When and where to watch the Fed’s policy decision?

The US Fed is scheduled to announce its decision at 14:00 EST on November 7 or 12:30 IST on November 8.

The announcement will be followed by a press conference by Fed Chairman Jerome Powell at 2.30 pm EST (1 am IST).

You can watch the announcement live on the Fed’s website or YouTube channel.

The next and final meeting of the Federal Reserve for the 2024 calendar year is scheduled for December 17-18.

Expectations of Fed policy outcome

According to a Reuters report, the Fed is expected to cut its benchmark policy rate by 25 bps on Thursday to a range between 4.5% and 4.75%.

However, the outlook for further interest rate cuts is turning bleaker following the re-election of Donald Trump as the next US president, as some of the Republican leader’s new policies are expected to reverse or halt the slowdown in inflation.

The Fed is now expected to end its rate-cutting cycle by the middle of next year, leaving the policy rate in the range of 3.75% to 4%, which is significantly above the roughly 2.9% level that officials had expected Fed in September, they suggested. a Reuters report.

What happened at the September Fed meeting?

During the September meeting, US Federal Reserve officials cut interest rates by 50 bps for the first time since the pandemic. In addition, Fed officials have indicated that they expect to cut the interest rate by another 50 basis points by the end of this year, followed by a full 1% cut in 2025 and a final cut of 0.5% in 2026. bringing the rate to a high level. range from 2.75% to 3.00%.

In its policy statement, the Fed said policymakers are increasingly confident that inflation is moving steadily toward its 2 percent target. They also noted that the risks to meeting the employment and inflation targets are now more balanced.

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