US Fed Meeting Live Updates: Wall Street hits record high ahead of Powell-led FOMC verdict, US yields drop

US Fed Meeting Live Updates: The US Federal Reserve is set to announce its seventh policy decision for 2024 on Thursday, November 7, after a two-day Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting and is widely expected to slash the benchmark interest rate by 25 basis points (bps) or (1/4) quarter a percentage point, broadly in line with Wall Street estimates.

In the September meeting, the US Fed slashed the benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) or (½) half a percentage point to 4.75 per cent-5 per cent for the first time in four years after policymakers expressed confidence that inflation was consistently on track to come near the four per cent target.

US Fed policymakers see the benchmark interest rate falling by another half-point (50 bps) by the end of this year, another full percentage point in 2025, and a final half-point reduction in 2026 to end in a 2.75 per cent-3.00 per cent range. One bps is equal to one hundredth (1/100) of a percentage point.

The Fed kicked off an aggressive monetary policy tightening cycle by raising the policy rate by 5.25 percentage points since March 2022—in one of the swiftest Fed reactions to rising price pressures that eventually hit a four-decade high peak.

The Fed’s rate hikes have helped lower annual inflation from 9.1 per cent in June 2022 to 2.5 per cent. However, high rates have made borrowing costlier for businesses and households. According to economists, policymakers must keep rates high enough to defeat rising inflation without derailing the economy.