New Delhi, Jan. 25 -- The Federal Reserve will almost certainly leave interest rates unchanged at its policy meeting this coming week, keeping its benchmark policy rate at 3.5% to 3.75%.

Markets know it. Policymakers know it. Even Fed Chair Jerome Powell knows it. And yet, Powell's post-meeting news conference on Jan. 28 will likely be one of the most closely followed of his tenure, given political pressures swirling about the Fed.

The Fed enters 2026 having cut the federal-funds rate target range by three-quarters of a percentage point in the second half of 2025. Inflation has come off highs but remains above the Fed's 2% target, with recent data offering little evidence of a clear path lower. The unemployment rate, now 4.4%, has drift...