The situation: The US Federal Reserve’s half-point interest rate cut is a powerful signal that it has reached the end of its war over inflation. Officials expect to make another half point of reductions before the end of the year.

• “The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent,” Fed officials said in their statement.
• The Fed now shifts focus to the other half of its dual mandate—maximum employment—at a time when the labor market has loosened but the unemployment rate remains low.