What will the US Federal Reserve be doing with interest rates in the near future?
US stocks tread water as traders mull Fed moves December 17, 2009 – 8:53AM US stocks have ended mixed as traders mulled a Federal Reserve statement offering a more upbeat assessment of the economy that led to speculation about a faster path to higher interest rates. The Dow Jones Industrial Average dipped 10.88 points (0.1 per cent) to 10,441.12 at the close of trade, handing back gains from earlier in the day. The Nasdaq composite managed to hold a gain of 5.86 points (0.27 per cent) to 2206.91 and the broad-market Standard & Poor’s 500 index edged up 1.25 points (0.11 per cent) to a close of 1109.18. The market wobbled after the US Federal Reserve extended its record low interest rates and reaffirmed this policy would remain in place “for an extended period” to support a still-precarious economic recovery. The central bank, concluding a two-day policy meeting, maintained the federal funds base rate of a range of zero to 0.25 per cent, which has been in place for the past year under a
