Wall Street Brokerages Bet on Timing of Fed Rate Cut

Goldman Sachs said it expects the easing cycle to begin in March as the U.S. central bank kept the rates unchanged in its latest policy meeting, saying inflation was dropping faster than expected. The stark shift in the Fed outlook with 17 of 19 policymakers seeing rates lower by the end of 2024 fueled bets of rate cuts as early as March. U.S. borrowing costs are now in the 5.25%-5.5% range as the Fed raised rates by 525 basis points (bps) since March 2022 to tame a surge in inflation...