Good morning from the Financial Times. Today is Thursday, December 11th, and this is your

FT News Briefing. The Federal Reserve is at odds with itself, and Oracle's earnings report

added to investor angst. Plus, a royal family-owned conglomerate is dominating Abu Dhabi's economy.

I'm Sonia Hudson, and here's the news you need to start your day.

The Federal Reserve cut U.S. interest rates by a quarter point yesterday.

Inflation is still running above target, and the job market is softening.

Fed Chair J. Powell said during his press conference, that puts the central bank in a tricky position.

There is no risk-free path for policy as we navigate this tension. But with downside risks to

employment having risen in recent months, the balance of risks has shifted.

The meeting also highlighted a growing division among members of the Federal Open Market Committee.

And that's pretty unusual. Here to talk more about this is the FT's U.S. economics editor, Claire Jones. Hi, Claire.

Hello. So why did the Fed decide to cut rates and what was the argument against it?

The Fed opted to make the third interest rate cut in a row yesterday because they think the U.S.

labor market is no longer once as strong as it was.

However, it was a highly contested move because we've still got a situation where inflation is

running above the central bank's 2% goal.

And there's a sense in which the inflationary impact of tariffs still hasn't fully fed through the U.S. economy.

So there were three members of the FOMC who dissented on this decision. That's the first time we've

seen that level of disagreement since 2019. What is it about this current moment that you think

is leading to such a large division?

Powell has been an exceptional chair in terms of uniting the committee through some very tricky times.

He was the head of the FOMC through the pandemic.

...