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.

WASHINGTON - US stocks fell on Nov 14, as traders digested an uptick in inflation and comments from Fed chairman Jerome Powell, which had the effect of cooling expectations of a December rate cut. Consumer and producer inflation data published this week point to a small rise in the rate of price increases, complicating the Fed’s rate-cutting plans.