Chair Jerome Powell says the Federal Reserve will likely cut its key interest rate slowly and deliberately in the coming months, in part because inflation has shown signs of persistence and the Fed's officials want to see where it heads next.

Even with two Fed rate cuts now in the books, you can still easily earn 4% to 5% returns in a number of risk-free ways. One option even pays 13.3% APY for two months.

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.

"The economy is not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates," Powell said Thursday in Dallas.

A look at the day ahead in Asian markets. A warm reading on U.S. producer price inflation in October and hawkish comments by Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell weighed on Wall Street and shouldn't distract Asian investors much from focusing on the incoming Trump administration.

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.

A strong economy is giving Federal Reserve officials room to move “carefully” as they lower interest rates, the central bank chair said.