Policy changes: When the Fed adjusts the federal funds rate, it spills over into many aspects of the economy, including mortgage rates. The federal funds rate affects how much it costs banks to borrow money, which in turn affects what banks charge consumers to make a profit.

Some economists were saying Wednesday that the cutting cycle is over, while others think Chairman Jerome Powell’s Federal Reserve won’t ease again until 2026.

U.S. President Donald Trump is getting his wish that interest rates drop across the world, just not at home where a strong economy and uncertainty over his own policies have set the stage for the Federal Reserve to diverge from its central bank peers.