The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Wall Street's main indexes closed lower on Thursday after Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell dampened hopes for an interest-rate cut this year. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that despite expectations for a 25-basis-point cut in December, the probability fell to 62 per cent from earlier highs. Janus Henderson Investors global head Adam Hetts says, "The comments from Powell put more cold water on what used to be a very optimistic outlook on the path for rate cuts." Mr. Powell spoke after data showed the producer price index for final demand rose 0.2 per cent on a monthly basis in October, in line with forecasts, though the annual rise of 2.4 per cent was a touch higher than expectations. Jobless claims dropped 4,000 to a seasonally adjusted 217,000 for the week ended Nov. 9, lower than forecast. Investment Decision Research director Melissa Brown says: "There's more and more evidence that inflation remains higher than the Fed's 2-per-cent target. The numbers were roughly in line with expectations but sometimes investors step back and say, 'What does this really mean?' It leads to more uncertainty about what the Fed does after the December meeting."