Federal Reserve watchers have backed off earlier expectations for a cut in the Fed's benchmark interest rate when it meets next week. The consensus now is maybe later. CNBC reports:
Even with President Trump and the markets calling for lower interest rates, the Fed is not likely to make a move when it meets next week though it is expected to smooth the way for a rate cut later in the summer.
The timing of a Fed rate cut, the first in more more than a decade, is up for debate. But such a move has become more of a given in markets, after May’s weak jobs data and softer-than-expected consumer price inflation.
There’s a growing group of economists and investors who expect a mid-summer rate cut, at the July 30-31 meeting. There are also those who expect the Fed to wait until September, considering more data before cutting rates. Then there are a few, like economists at Goldman Sachs, who expect no cut at all this year.
