Powell says December rate cut ‘far from certain’

Treasury yields rose despite the Fed cutting interest rates for the second time this year, with Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell saying in December that another easing was far from certain.

Criterion 10 year Treasury Its yield increased by 7 basis points to 4.053%. The 2-year Treasury bill yield rose 9 basis points to 3.58%. The 30-year bond yield rose 5 basis points to 4.598%.

One basis point equals 0.01%, and yields and prices move in opposite directions.

Interest rates jumped after Powell said: “In the committee’s discussions at this meeting, there were very different views on how to proceed in December. A further reduction in the policy rate at the December meeting is not an inevitable outcome. Far from it.”

These moves come after the Fed cut its benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter point to a range of 3.75% to 4%. This is the second outage this year. CME FedWatch Tool It showed that investors continue to price the odds of another interest rate cut at 70% at the central bank’s December meeting.

In its statement, the Central Bank seemed to have slightly raised its perspective on the economy.

“Current indicators show that economic activity is expanding at a moderate pace. Employment gains have slowed this year and the unemployment rate has slowed but remained low through August; more recent indicators are consistent with these developments,” the statement said. The statement was included.

Michael Pearce, deputy US economist at Oxford Economists, believes the Federal Reserve may take a break from its rate-cutting cycle in the near term.

“We expect the Fed to slow the pace of cuts from here on. Our view is based on stability in labor market conditions, which is a difficult decision due to the lack of official data,” he said. “Our prediction is that the Fed will continue to pause in the coming months and make three rate cuts every three months in 2026.”