Central bank will essentially say that interest rate hike cycle has ended

The biggest question going into the Federal Reserve’s policy meeting next week is what sort of smoke signals Fed Chair Jerome Powell will send about the possibility of an interest rate cut at the central bank’s next meeting in March.

Fed watchers agree that Powell will leave the door open for a move as soon as March but officials won’t decide one way or the other because that meeting is two months away.

Right now, markets are pricing in a roughly 50-50 chance of a cut in March.