US Fed cuts interest rates a quarter point after Trump victory

Fed chief says election result will not affect central bank's policy decisions in near term

WASHINGTON - The US Federal Reserve shrugged off concerns about the impact of Donald Trump's election victory on interest rates and moved ahead with a quarter-point cut on Nov 7, looking to continue easing borrowing costs on the back of cooling inflation.

The Fed sits just a short walk from the White House, where Democratic President Joe Biden will in January hand back the keys to Donald Trump following the Republican's election win.

But as expected, policymakers ignored the political drama playing out up the road, voting unanimously to reduce interest rates by 25 basis points to between 4.5 per cent and 4.75 per cent, the Fed said in a statement.

"In the near term, the election will have no effects on our policy decisions," Fed chairman Jerome Powell told reporters, noting there was still uncertainty about what President-elect Trump's actual economic agenda would be.

"We don't guess, we don't speculate, and we don't assume," he said.

Mr Powell also said he would not resign if asked to leave early by the President-elect, adding that firing any of the Fed's seven governors was "not permitted under the law".