Overview
- The FOMC lowered the target range to 3.75%–4.00% on a 10–2 vote, with Jeffrey Schmid voting to hold and Governor Stephen Miran seeking a larger 50-basis-point cut.
- Post-meeting remarks from Dallas’s Lorie Logan and Cleveland’s Beth Hammack said this week’s cut was not needed and signaled opposition to another reduction in December.
- Market pricing now assigns roughly mid-60% odds to a December quarter-point cut, as Treasury yields rose, bond ETFs fell, the dollar strengthened and cryptocurrencies retreated.
- The Fed said quantitative tightening will end on December 1, a balance-sheet shift officials say could ease recent money-market strains.
- Powell cited a shortage of official data during the government shutdown and stressed data dependence, while some officials argued private indicators still offer sufficient guidance.