The China Mail - Fed begins meeting to fight inflation as markets tremble

A central bank spokesperson confirmed the beginning of the policy setting Federal Open Market Committee's (FOMC) two-day meeting, which will conclude Wednesday with a committee statement and press conference by Fed Chair Jerome Powell that will be closely followed for signs of what the Fed plans to do to address the surge in US prices.

Fears of tighter Fed policy have gripped Wall Street in recent sessions, which saw indices decline throughout last week and end with slight gains in Monday's trading after a session in which indices sank deep into negative territory before rebounding.

Stock futures point to a resumption of the declines when Tuesday's trading opens.

After cutting its lending rate to zero and pledging to keep it there for longer to ensure the economic recovery includes marginalized groups, the Fed is pivoting to quell inflation after US consumer prices rose seven percent last year.

They are on track to end their program of buying bonds to stimulate the economy by March and then hike rates. Central bankers' individual forecasts released at the December meeting predicted up to three rate hikes this year.

The FOMC's statement after the meeting and Powell's press conference will be closely followed for signs of any deviation from that plan, including the possibility of more aggressive moves against inflation, or signals of hesitation as the Omicron variant of Covid-19 hits business activity again.

I.Ko--ThChM