Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller on Friday said "the time has come" for the U.S. central bank to begin a series of interest rate cuts this month, adding that he is open-minded about the size and pace of those reductions.

Waller on Friday backed an interest rate cut at the upcoming policy meeting, noting the importance of supporting a weakening jobs picture.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller says that with inflation on the decline, "the balance of risks has shifted toward the employment side of our dual mandate" and that "the time has come to lower the target range for the federal funds rate at our upcoming meeting.

The Federal Reserve will lower interest rates by 25 basis points at each of the U.S. central bank's three remaining policy meetings in 2024, according to a majority of economists in a Reuters poll that found only nine of 101 expected a half-percentage-point cut next week.

The Fed will announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday. Nearly all expect them to cut rates because of weakening signs in the economy.

The central bank will almost certainly lower interest rates when it concludes its meeting on Wednesday. But there is still uncertainty over how big the cut will be.

American consumers and home buyers, business people and political leaders have been waiting for months for what the Federal Reserve is poised to announce this week: That it’s cutting its key interest

By Lewis Krauskopf, Prinz Magtulis, Pasit Kongkunakornkul and Vineet Sachdev NEW YORK (Reuters) - How stocks, bonds and the dollar perform after the Federal Reserve kicks off its rate-cutting cycle could depend on one factor more than most: the health of the U.

The U.S. dollar has been sliding in the run-up to a widely expected interest-rate cut from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday and, depending on the size of the Fed’s move, it could end up weakening further — or it could be a buying opportunity.