Goldman Sachs sees Fed cutting rates thrice in 2025, twice more in 2026

NEW YORK (Reuters) -Goldman Sachs said on Wednesday in a research note it expects the U.S. Federal Reserve to deliver three 25-basis-point interest rate cuts this year and two more in 2026.

This would put the terminal rate at between 3% and 3.25%, down from the current 4.25%-4.50% level.

The Goldman note followed data on Tuesday showing U.S. consumer prices increased marginally in July, rising just 0.2% last month after a gain of 0.3% in June, in line with economists' expectations.

The moderation in the Consumer Price Index reflected a 2.2% decline in gasoline prices. Food prices were unchanged after rising 0.3% for two straight months.

U.S. rate futures priced in late Wednesday a 93% chance of a 25-bps easing next month and as much as a 7% probability of a 50-bps rate decline, according to LSEG calculations. The latter was 3% earlier on Wednesday.

Traders also implied about 65 bps of easing this year, up from roughly 60 bps last week.

The slight pop in the 50-bps odds on Wednesday came after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed for cuts of that?magnitude in interviews with Fox News on Tuesday and Bloomberg TV on Wednesday.

Bessent said on Bloomberg TV that he thought an aggressive half-point cut was possible given recent weak employment numbers. He based his argument for cuts on recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data showing soft employment gains in May, June, and July, in contrast to initial estimates for May and June indicating stronger employment growth.

"Rates are too constrictive ... We should probably be 150 to 175 basis points lower," Bessent said, adding to the Trump administration's penchant for public criticism and detailed policy advice for the independent central bank.

(Reporting by Gertrude Chavez-Dreyfuss in New York and Pritam Biswas in Bengaluru ; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Rod Nickel)