While Wall Street looks for clues on rates, it is also bracing itself for this year’s final meeting of the policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) that concludes on Wednesday. The Federal Reserve is almost certain to hold interest rates steady. But aside from a likely unremarkable meeting conclusion, analysts believe that the Fed is done raising interest rates and could be readying to consider rate cuts next year, maybe as early as the first half of 2024.
“At the December FOMC meeting, we expect the Fed to stay on hold and maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25–5.5percent. Incoming data since the November meeting, in our view, do not support another rate hike, and the Fed’s mantra of ‘wait and see’ and wanting to be ‘careful’ when assessing policy rate adjustments suggests that it is not convinced that a change in the current policy stance is warranted,” noted Bank of America Securities in a client note, accessed by The Epoch Times. “But we think that a cooling economy is more likely and that the narrative should shift in the direction of cuts over hikes in 2024.”
