Global equity markets rose on Wednesday ahead of a policy statement in which the Federal Reserve is widely expected to announce the end of its stimulus program but say it will wait to raise interest rates due to concerns about economic growth.
The Fed is likely to say it will no longer add to its holdings of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, effectively ending a program that at its peak pumped $85 billion a month into the financial system to hold interest rates down and boost the flagging economy.
Currency and fixed income markets were also subdued ahead of the Fed statement, as the dollar and major government bond yields were little changed.
“Any major tightening of monetary policy remains a story for the latter half of 2015,” said Nick Gartside, chief investment officer for fixed income at JP Morgan Asset Management in London.
“The Fed will remain keen to defuse any large-scale market turmoil in the immediate term and will continue to focus on language that helps to stabilize the markets,” he said.
