"We're always going into this meeting and asking 'What's the right thing to do for the people we serve?' We do that and we make a decision as a group and then we announce it. That's always what it is,

Would Fed chair Jerome Powell opt for a measured, quarter percentage point change in rates, as he had for the last year? Or would he go big with a double-sized cut, signaling that the economy might be deteriorating faster than expected?

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell held a news conference to discuss interest rates and monetary policy actions.

We concluded that this was the right thing for the economy and the people we serve,” the Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, said, referring to the central bank’s decision to cut interest rates by half a point.

For many Americans, elevated home prices have put homeownership out of reach. They received some relief on Wednesday when the Federal Reserve cut interest rates by 50 basis points, which will lower mortgage costs.