FED EXPECTED TO DELIVER QUARTER-PERCENTAGE-POINT RATE CUT NEXT WEEK

U.S. central bankers will likely start long-awaited interest rate cuts next week with a quarter-of-a-percentage-point reduction, as they seek to reduce the odds of a recession even as stubbornly intact underlying price pressures put them off more aggressive action.

Traders now see less than a one-in-five chance of a half-percentage-point rate cut at the Fed's Sept. 17-18 policy meeting. That is down from a better-than one-in-four chance before the release of data on Wednesday that showed the consumer price index rose 2.5% in August from a year earlier, down from July's 2.9% increase.

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