All eyes on Fed's Sept rate decision

THE US-China trade relationship has shown credible signs of thawing in the past fortnight, but the focus this week will be on the US Federal Reserve's September meeting on Wednesday.

Having already lowered US interest rates in July, the street expects the Fed to cut rates this month by another 25 basis points, with an additional easing to follow before the end of 2019.

United Overseas Bank (UOB) economist Alvin Liew anticipates a 25-basis-point policy rate cut but acknowledges that it is not an unanimous view. According to a Bloomberg poll, 41 out of 65 economists expect a 25-basis-point cut but the remaining 24 expect no change.