|
Current
Affairs
|
News  |
|
Wall Street rebounds on US Federal Reserves promise WASHINGTON: The US Federal Reserve on Tuesday took the unprecedented step of promising to keep interest rates near zero for at least two more years and said it would consider further steps to help growth, sparking a rebound in stocks. The Fed painted a gloomy picture, saying that US economic growth was proving considerably weaker than expected, inflation should remain contained for the foreseeable and unemployment, currently at 9.1 per cent, would come down only gradually. An unusually divided central bank pledged to hold benchmark rates at rock-bottom lows until mid 2013, and opened the door to other tools to support growth. The announcement demonstrated just how long the central bank expects it will take before a flagging economy can gather significant momentum. The statement was extremely negative in its outlook on the economy, said Omer Esiner, chief markets analyst at Commonwealth Foreign Exchange in Washington. By pegging the extraordinarily low interest rates to a date in the distant future, the Fed has essentially said that they see the current level of weakness lasting far longer than previously expected. Financial markets, hungry for support from the Fed after bruising losses the past eight days that wiped $3.8 trillion from global stock portfolios, were jolted by the news. Back |
|
Created
by SaasVaap Techies pvt ltd