The Federal Reserve could lower its key interest rate by a quarter point or half point Wednesday as inflation eases and the job market slows.

In commodities, precious and base metals such as copper should benefit from Fed rate cuts, and for the latter the demand outlook and a soft landing are key. Lower rates and a weaker dollar, reducing not just the opportunity cost of holding metals but also of buying them for those using other currencies, could fuel momentum.

Here’s what lowered interest rates will mean for your car loans, credit cards, mortgages, savings and student loans.

Easing monetary policy would make construction and mortgage loans cheaper, potentially lifting a depressed housing market.

For two and a half years, ever since America’s Federal Reserve embarked on its fastest series of interest-rate rises since the 1980s, investors have been desperate for any hint of when it would reverse course.

Market expectations of substantial U.S. rate cuts this year are making short-dated debt unattractive as the Federal Reserve is unlikely to be as aggressive in easing monetary policy, said Deborah Cunningham,

This trend began in early March, with gold prices surging to $2,160 per ounce, up 8% compared to the previous record in December 2023. That record was quickly surpassed by subsequent peaks in April, May,

Major brokerages expect the U.S. Federal Reserve to lower interest rates by 25 basis points at the end of its two-day monetary policy meeting that starts on Tuesday, even as financial markets price in a good chance of policymakers starting the easing cycle with an outsized rate reduction.