Federal Reserve signals slower pace of interest rate hikes
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has indicated that the central bank will slow the pace of interest rate hikes, moving away from the three-quarter percentage point rate hikes that have prevailed since June. Powell stated that the Fed would feel its way towards the peak interest rate needed to slow inflation to the Fed's 2% target. The Fed has raised its policy rate by 375 basis points this year, the fastest pace of tightening since the early 1980s as it tries to quash stubbornly high inflation. The Fed is widely expected to raise its key short-term rate by a half-point when it next meets in mid-December.