US Fed Meeting: Date, Time, What To Expect And How To Watch Jerome Powell's Speech Live

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which is meeting for the last time in 2024, will announce key decisions on Dec. 18. The US Federal Reserve started its two-day policy meeting on Dec. 17.

The Fed's decisions will also come weeks before Donald Trump takes oath as the 47th President of the United States on Jan. 20, 2025, making it a key meeting to mark new beginnings.

Multiple media reports suggest that the Fed, led by Jerome Powell, could go for another rate cut at the meeting.

The US Fed's two-day policy meeting started on Dec. 17 and will end on Dec. 18. US Fed Chair Jerome Powell is set to announce the decisions at a press conference around 2:30 pm local time Wednesday (around 12:30 am IST, Thursday).

Powell's press conference following the end of the meeting will be streamed live on the YouTube Channel of NDTV Profit.

The media briefing will also be available online via live streaming on the US Fed's official website at https://www.federalreserve.gov/live-broadcast.htm. The press conference can also be viewed live on the social media pages of the Fed, including their YouTube channel.

Economists, markets and analysts expect the Fed to cut interest rates on Wednesday by 25 basis points. Economists and markets also agree that the decision will be accompanied with forward guidance saying that there will be fewer rate cuts in 2025 than indicated earlier, a higher terminal rate as well as a pause in January.

The anticipated policy decision at the Wednesday meeting will be the third consecutive rate cut adopted by the Fed. This will bring the federal funds rate to a target range of 4.25% to 4.5% from the current 4.5% to 4.75%.

Analysts will be closely scrutinising Powell 's remarks and analysing the FOMC’s latest economic projections to find signs of the 2025 monetary policy trajectory.