When the Fed adjusts its benchmark interest rate, interest rates on savings accounts and short-term loan vehicles follow quickly. Long-term rates like mortgages, however, take their cues from the broader economic outlook and fiscal indicators rather than directly from policymakers' moves.

Traders are betting on a slower pace of interest-rate cuts from the Federal Reserve this year, with economic resilience forcing policymakers to remain on hold for longer before easing more sharply in 2026.