U.S. central bankers on Tuesday said they continue to believe inflation is heading down to their 2% target and signaled support for further interest rate cuts ahead, but none pushed strongly for or against doing so when they next meet to set rates in two weeks.

The Federal Open Market Committee is most likely to cut interest rates again to 4.25% to 4.5% on December 18 according to fixed income markets.

Powell just a week after the meeting said the economy was "not sending any signals that we need to be in a hurry to lower rates."

Two Federal Reserve policymakers on Tuesday said they believe inflation is heading down to the U.S. central bank's 2% target and the job market is "solid," even as neither gave any clear steer on whether they'll support another interest rate cut later this month.

Markets widely expect the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates for the third time this year at its December meeting. The question is what the central bank will do next year. Recent sticky inflation prints and evidence the US economy is growing at a solid pace have raised doubts that the Fed will bring down rates as quickly as it previously

A top Federal Reserve official says he is leaning toward supporting an interest rate cut when the Fed meets in two weeks but that evidence of persistent inflation before then could cause him to change that view.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, whose views are often a bellwether for U.S. monetary policy, said on Monday that with inflation still forecast to fall to 2% he is inclined "at present" to support another interest rate cut later this month.

Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said Monday he is anticipating an interest rate cut in December but is concerned about recent trends on inflation that could change his mind.

The central bank governor said that while the recent uptick in inflation does raise concerns that price growth could get stuck above the Fed’s 2% goal, he doesn’t want to overreact.