StickyRice
09-19

Slashed. 

The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by half of a percentage point this afternoon, starting the next phase of the policy cycle with a bang. Officials are squarely focused on a slowing U.S. labor market, with inflation still too high but closing in on the central bank’s 2% annual target.

The Federal Open Market Committee now has a new target range for the federal-funds rate of 4.75% to 5%, after holding rates steady since July 2023.

Market pricing was all over the place in the week before the meeting, with odds shifting between quarter- and half-point reductions. The bigger move is an effort to front-load cuts and get ahead of further weakening in the jobs market.

The median estimate in the latest so-called "dot plot" implies a fed-funds rate target range of 4.25% to 4.5% at the end of 2024. That’s a bit less easing than markets were anticipating, but it's significantly lower than the Fed’s previous forecast: In June, the median 2024 forecast was for a target range of 5.0% to 5.25%.

Interest-rate futures remain a bit ahead of that, pricing in the greatest odds of the target falling to 4.0% to 4.25% this year. That would require another 0.75 percentage point of cumulative cuts at the FOMC's November and December meetings.

Considering the stakes, markets had a relatively muted reaction to the news today. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each fell 0.3%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average slipped by 0.2%. Bond yields rose slightly.

Take Profit as S&P Hits 5800 or Hold Till 6000?
As the stock market hits record highs more than 40 times this year, there are concerns that history might repeat itself and another financial crisis could occur. ---------------- Will S&P 500 hit 6000 by year-end as institutions predict? Would you take profit and stay cautious ahead or hold till the year-end?
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