The Federal Reserve doesn’t need to rush to lower its benchmark interest rate, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday.

When the Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by half a percentage point in September, it wasn't a particularly surprising move. At that point, the Fed was expected to make its first rate cut of the year in response to cooling inflation.

A higher neutral rate could limit interest rates’ decline, Minneapolis Federal Reserve President Neel Kashkari said.

Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell dampened investors' hopes for another interest rate cut this year by saying the U.S. central bank need not rush to ease monetary policy.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that the economy is in a good place, with inflation on a sustainable path back to the central bank’s 2% target, and that he expects inflation to continue to come down on a “sometimes bumpy” path.

Powell says Fed will likely cut rates cautiously given persistent inflation pressures.

Ongoing economic growth, a solid job market, and inflation that remains above the 2% target means the U.S. central bank does not need to rush to lower interest rates and can deliberate carefully, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Thursday.

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Thursday that interest rates are still expected to decline further, but suggested they might not be that much lower over the next few months.