Deeply divided Fed policy panel may be reluctant to forecast further cuts

The policy statement and updated quarterly forecasts will be released at 2 pm in Washington and Chairman Jerome Powell will brief the press 30 minutes later

Under pressure from Wall Street and President Donald Trump, the Federal Reserve is widely expected to reduce interest rates on Wednesday for a second straight meeting, but its sharply divided policy panel may be reluctant to forecast further cuts.

The Federal Open Market Committee is likely to lower rates a quarter percentage point to insure against risks from a global slowdown and uncertainty over Trump’s trade policies, while forecasting no more reductions this year, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg.

The meeting comes as the Fed’s New York branch injected billions of dollars in cash into money markets this week, to quell