In a closely watched decision, the U.S. Federal Reserve opted for a larger 50-bps reduction in interest rates yesterday, rather than a more traditional 25-bps rate cut.

The U.S. economy is not in a recession but labor-market weakness might worry the Federal Reserve enough to cut interest rates by 50 basis points on Wednesday, former Fed economist Claudia Sahm said.

All eyes are rivetted on the Fed on Wednesday as the rate-setting committee members are left with the unenviable task of satiating everyone with the rate move.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said on Thursday the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to cut interest rates by half of a percentage point was "a political move." "It really is a political move.

BofA Global Research raised its forecast for the Federal Reserve's anticipated interest rate cuts for the remainder of this year to 75 basis points, after the U.S. central bank kicked off a widely expected series of reductions on Wednesday.

Trump attributed the rate reduction to either a "very bad" economy or to the Fed's "playing politics" to help Democrats.

Major brokerages expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by 25 basis points at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting that starts on Tuesday, even as financial markets price in a good chance of policymakers starting the easing cycle with an outsized rate reduction.

Because the rate cut has been forecast for so long, it's largely already been priced into the value of the dollar in international markets. “Exchange rates tend to adjust when a

Futures on the fed funds rate, which measures the cost of unsecured overnight loans between banks, have priced in on Wednesday about 76 basis points of additional rate cuts by the Federal Reserve by the end of the year,