© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Pedestrians walk past an electronic board displaying Nikkei share average, outside a brokerage in Tokyo, Japan, October 31, 2023. REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon
By Sinéad Carew and Amanda Cooper
NEW YORK/LONDON (Reuters) -MSCI’s global stock index was advancing on Tuesday while the dollar fell as a Federal Reserve official suggested the U.S. central bank was done raising rates and could even consider rate cuts if inflation keeps easing.
The U.S. dollar hit a more than three-and-a-half-month low against a basket of peers after Fed Governor Christopher Waller flagged the possibility of lowering the Fed policy rate in the months ahead if inflation continues to come down.
Waller also said he was “increasingly confident” the current interest rate setting will prove adequate to lower inflation to the Fed’s 2% target.
Another Fed governor Michelle Bowman said the U.S. central bank will likely need to raise borrowing costs further in order to bring inflation back down to its target.
But, traders appeared to take their cues from Waller with increased bets for the first rate cut taking place as soon as March with the probability for a 25 basis-point cut last at…
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