Ahead of the Fed's regular "quiet period", two senior officials suggested that the central bank could cut interest rates by half a percentage point at its upcoming meeting despite Friday's mixed jobs report, although they also said the central bank would be cautious in its actions. It is reported that Federal Reserve Governor Waller and New York Federal Reserve President Williams said that multiple interest rate cuts should be made this year in view of falling inflation and the weakness of the US labor market. The Fed fund futures market has been volatile this week and at one point saw the Fed as more likely to cut interest rates by 50 basis points this month. However, these bets have since been reduced, but traders still expect the central bank to cut interest rates by more than one percentage point this year, indicating that the Fed may need to increase its efforts to deal with the economic slowdown.