Preview: Fed under pressure to cut rates.

(From FT Investor (Stories))

There is a growing possibility that the Federal Reserve may cut rates on Tuesday, but even if it holds, the US central bank is widely expected to announce that it is ready to lower the cost of borrowing soon.

Poor retail sales figures, rising unemployment, higher energy prices and the uncertainty about the global economic outlook caused by tensions in the Middle East and the Korean peninsula have put pressure on the US Federal Reserve Fed to ease rates.

Investors have priced in less than a 25 per cent probability of a quarter-point rate cut on Tuesday, but have factored in a stronger chance of monetary easing by …