Standard Chartered: Scenario of a 50 Basis Point Fed Rate Hike Strengthens, But No Conclusion Yet] Standard Chartered stated that the likelihood of a 0.5 percentage point rate hike by the Federal Reserve in December is increasing, but it's not yet time to draw a definitive conclusion. Strategists Steve Englander and Dan Pan noted in a report that underlying inflation does not appear to be declining and may even be rising; a wait-and-see approach is reasonable when inflation is above target and stable, but if inflation appears to be rising, there is no reason to continue waiting.