The European Central Bank began easing interest rates on Thursday, cutting its benchmark rate by 0.25%. Investors and economists expect the Federal Reserve to follow suit and cut interest rates in September. This combination means there's a good chance that the September cut Wall Street is praying for may never materialize. The US already has somewhat higher interest rates than other countries — the Fed's benchmark rate is 5.25%- 5.50%. And in Asian economies, where interest rates are already significantly lower than in the US, things could get even messier.

---

Persons: Tamara, Vasiljev, Peter Schaffrik, Nigel Green, Green, we're Organizations: European Central Bank, Investors, Federal Reserve, Oxford Economics, JPMorgan, UBS, Bloomberg, of International Finance, Markets, RBC Capital Markets, deVere, Fed, We're, ECB, Bank of, EU, Bank of Canada, Bank of Canada's, Bank of England Locations: stagflation, China, Europe, Japan, South Korea, It's, America, United States, EU, Bank of England, Canada, East Asia