adminSenior Federal Reserve officials are by no means unanimous about the central bank’s December forecast showing three cuts in U.S. interest rates in 2024. Neither is Wall Street.
Some economists see as many as seven rate cuts in 2024 — with the Fed starting early — and others just two.
The short-term fed funds rate could range from a low of 3.5%-3.75% to a high of 4.75% to 5% under these varying scenarios.
The current fed funds rate is 5.25% to 5.5%.
How fast the Fed moves would affect every American, from home and car buyers to business owners weighing a new investment.
Lower rates would reduce borrowing costs and help spur the economy. The housing market, for instance, cratered this year under the weight of the highest interest rates in more than two decades.
Here’s what some major Wall Street
DJIA
firms predict for interest-rate cuts in 2024.
Capital Economics: Seven 1/4-point rate cuts next year.
ING: Six 1/4-point rate cuts.
Goldman Sachs: The firm raised its forecast to assume five 1/4-point rate cuts in 2024 in light of the Fed Chairman Jerome Powell’s dovish remarks.
“We now expect the [Fed] to cut earlier and faster,” Goldman economists wrote.
J.P Morgan: Five 1/4-point rate cuts.
Nationwide: Four 1/4-point rate cuts next year and a “mild recession.”
Citibank: Four 1/4-point rate cuts.
PNC Financial Services: Three 1/4-point rate cuts.
Comerica: Three 1/4-point rate cuts.
UBS Global Wealth Management: Three 1/4-point rate cuts.
CIBC Economics: Two 1/4-point rate cuts.
Oxford Economics: Two 1/4-point rate cuts. “We still think financial markets are too optimistic about rate cuts coming early in 2024,” said lead U.S. economist Nancy Vanden Houten.
Santander Capital Markets: Two 1/4-point rate cuts next year.
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