Washington, DC CNN — Investors are feeling bullish that the Federal Reserve will begin to cut interest rates in the first half of next year , despite Fed Chair Jerome Powell and other officials saying they’re not considering rate cuts just yet . Still, some think rate cuts could come as early as the first quarter. " There is growing confidence that rate cuts are only a few months away, with a roughly 44% chance of that first cut coming in March, according to futures." " But if the predictions of a March cut bear out, or even a rate cut in May, so much for the Fed’s higher-for-longer strategy. “ Now we’re moving into higher-for-long-enough,” Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG, told CNN in an interview. Whenever the Fed begins to pare back its key interest rate, the pace will likely be gradual in the beginning, and it’s clear there won’t be a return to ultralow interest rates. " Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2023/12/10/economy/stocks-week-ahead-fed-higher-f