Given decent economic growth, elevated inflation, low unemployment and equity markets at all-time highs, you could be forgiven for questioning why the market is fully discounting a 25bp interest rate cut on Wednesday, with another 25bp cut priced in for December. Well, the Federal Reserve resumed cutting interest rates at the September FOMC meeting after a nine-month hiatus, which Chair Jerome Powell characterised as a “risk management” move. Above-target inflation is a problem, and tariffs continue to pose a threat, but it’s fair to say tariff-induced price hikes are not coming through as aggressively as feared. The ... (full story)