After an all-out fight against inflation over the past two years, the Federal Reserve recently voted to lower interest rates by a half percentage point. The Sept. 18 move by the central bank was bolder than many investors expected.

The Fed’s first rate cut since the world collapsed in March 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak drew elation in equities markets. Investors welcomed the supersize rate cut as evidence that the aberration of the last two years of restrictive monetary policy is over.