(Reuters) – Traders of short-term interest-rate futures on Thursday stuck to bets the Federal Reserve will cut short-term U.S. borrowing costs by a quarter-of-a-percentage point next week, and likely again by that amount in December, after economic data suggested upward price pressures continue to ease.
Inflation by the Fed’s targeted measure, the year-over-year increase in the personal consumption expenditures index, was 2.1% in September, down from an upwardly revised 2.3% in August, a Commerce Department report showed. The Fed aims at 2% inflation.