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Why the Fed’s next move may be a rate cut

Posted at 11:13 AM, Feb 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-02-26 14:07:02-05

The Federal Reserve plans to remain “patient” — to use Fed chair Jerome Powell’s new favorite word — when it comes to interest rates. But when the central bank does make a move, Stifel’s chief economist thinks it might lower rates, not raise them.

Lindsey Piegza believes that the lack of any major inflation pressures in the United States, combined with domestic political risks and worries about the global economy, justify the Fed’s stance right now.

Powell reiterated this when hetestified before Congress on Tuesday. He said there have been “some crosscurrents and conflicting signals” about the economy in recent months.

With that in mind, there seems to be a greater chance that the US economy will cool off instead of overheat. A slowdown in Europe and China could eventually spill over to the United States.

Piegza wrote in a recent report that the Fed could be on the sidelines “indefinitely” and that the central bank “has thrown in the towel” on any future rate hikes.

“Unless things materially improve at home and abroad, the Fed has little, if any, room for additional policy action,” she wrote, adding that “the next policy adjustment is increasingly likely to be a rate cut.”

Piegza will be talking about all this with CNN anchor Julia Chatterley on the “Markets Now” live show Wednesday at 12:45 pm ET.

Chatterley will also be joined by Greg Valliere, chief US policy strategist of AGF Investments, to discuss how much the latest political news in Washington really matters to investors, and what is simply noise.

“Markets Now”streams live from the New York Stock Exchange every Wednesday at 12:45 p.m. ET. Hosted by CNN’s business correspondents, the 15-minute program features incisive commentary from experts.

You can watch “Markets Now” at CNN.com/MarketsNow from your desk or on your phone or tablet. If you can’t catch the show live, check out highlights online and through the Markets Now newsletter, delivered to your inbox every afternoon.