Most major brokerages stuck by their expectations that the Federal Reserve will start lowering interest rates from June after the U.S. central bank left interest rates unchanged at its March 19-20 meeting and maintained its projection of three cuts this year.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell said recent inflation readings had not changed the underlying story of slowly easing price pressures and affirmed that solid growth will continue.
Markets still expect the Fed to start lowering rates in June, as do top Wall Street banks.
Investors are currently pricing in a roughly 68% chance of a 25-basis-points (bps) cut in June, barely changed from the 67% just before the Fed decision, per the CME's FedWatch tool.
Brokerages including Goldman Sachs, J.P. Morgan, BofA Global Research and Deutsche Bank maintained their expectations on the future trajectory of interest rates. UBS Global Research, meanwhile, changed its forecast for the first rate cut to June, from May. Here are the forecasts from major brokerages following the March meeting:
* UBS Global Research and UBS Global Wealth Management are distinct, independent divisions in UBS Group
Here are the forecasts from major brokerages before the March meeting:
