The U.S. Federal Reserve cut its key lending rate by half a percentage-point Wednesday in its first reduction since the pandemic, sharply lowering borrowing costs shortly before November's presidential election.

Policymakers voted 11-to-1 in favor of lowering the U.S. central bank's benchmark lending rate to between 4.75 percent and 5.00 percent, the Fed announced in a statement. They also penciled in an additional half-point of cuts before the end of the year.