Wall St Week Ahead: Size, speed of rate moves in focus

The shifting bets reflect one of the key questions facing markets today: whether the Fed will head off weakening in the labour market with aggressive cuts, rather than take a slower wait-and-see approach. — Reuters

NEW YORK: The Federal Reserve is in focus next week, as uncertainty swirls over how much the US central bank will cut interest rates at its monetary policy meeting and the pace at which it will reduce borrowing costs in coming months.

The S&P 500 index is just 1% shy of its July record high despite weeks of market swings sparked by worries over the economy and seesawing bets on the size of the cut at the Fed's Sept. 17-18 meeting.