Next rate cut uncertain as shutdown fogs Fed windscreen

A policy divide within the US central bank and a lack of federal government data may put another interest rate cut out of reach this year, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says.

The central bank chief acknowledged the threats officials see to the job market but also the risky nature of making further rate moves without a fuller picture of the economy.

The Fed on Wednesday cut interest rates by a quarter of a percentage point, as expected, as a way to temper any further weakening of the job market.

But the central bank's new policy statement included several references to the lack of official data during a federal government shutdown, and Powell later told reporters that policymakers are likely to become more cautious if it deprives them of further job and inflation reports.

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