Powell Faces Deepening Fed Split as Markets See 25 bp Cut Tonight

The Federal Reserve is confronting its widest internal split in years on December 10, with Chair Jerome Powell facing a difficult coordination task as markets expect another 25 basis-point rate cut later tonight, BlockBeats reports. Within the committee, five officials currently support cutting rates, three officials' stances are not clear, and two support holding rates unchanged. Powell may avoid signaling an additional reduction in January to reassure hawkish members, and could indicate that further easing would require employment data to show significant weakness or emphasize that the benchmark policy rate is close to a neutral level, according to Bank of America.