A divided Federal Reserve eased interest rates on Wednesday amid mixed signals over the direction of the economy and growing pressure from President Trump.
Just seven of 10 Fed officials under Chairman Jerome “Jay” Powell backed the second reduction, which comes at a time of confusing economic news.
The president also blasted the move because he had wanted a larger reduction.
“Jay Powell and the Federal Reserve Fail Again. No ‘guts,’ no sense, no vision! A terrible communicator!” Trump tweeted 25 minutes after the announcement.
The president — who recently denounced Fed policymakers as “boneheads” — has been pushing for a “big” cut in rates to put the US more in line with Europe, where rates are negative, meaning that investors pay countries to borrow money.
Powell seemed to shoot back at Trump during a news conference by saying the cut was made “to provide insurance against ongoing risks” around Trump’s ongoing trade war with China — as well as other issues, like a slowing US economy and Brexit.
“Trade-policy tensions have waxed and waned and elevated uncertainty is weighing on US investment and exports,” Powell said. “Our business contacts around the country have been telling us that uncertainty about trade policy has discouraged them from investing in their businesses.”
The quarter-percentage point cut — to a range between 1.75 percent and 2 percent — is the second of a series of cuts that kicked off in July. Together, the two cuts mark the first time rates have been lowered since the depths of the Great Recession in late 2008.
The economy is in its 11th year of economic growth and unemployment is near a 50-year low — but there are also signs of a global recession on the horizon, including a slowdown in manufacturing and companies warning of slower growth due to the trade war.
Stocks didn’t seem to know what to make of the dissenting views. The Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 200 points during the news conference — but then rebounded and ended the day up 36 points, at 27,147.08.
Fed members also appear divided on where rates are headed through 2020, according to projections released by the board. “If the economy does turn down, then a more extensive series of rate cuts could be appropriate,” Powell said during the presser.
“It’s almost a tug of war,” Quincy Krosby, chief market strategist at Prudential Financial, told The Post.
Wall Street was predicting odds in favor of no rate cut as of Tuesday, but bizarre spikes in the overnight lending market pushed odds in favor of a modest reduction to help calm bond investors.
Powell on Wednesday said the central bank may have to resume its bond-buying program to stabilize money-market funds, but that it expects the overnight federal funds rate to move back to its target range.
The agency, which began raising record low rates in 2015, lowered its benchmark rate in July by a quarter point to a range of 2 percent to 2.25 percent.