At the latest Federal Reserve meeting yesterday, US officials moved to keep rates steady at 0.25% and to maintain the pace of its quantitative easing programme but signalled to markets that hikes to interest rates would come into effect from March onwards.
The move was broadly in line with expectations and some commentators were quick to reassure markets that the Fed's actions would spell good news for equities. "The tone has been mostly cautious as growth remains front and centre in the Fed's dual mandate with inflation running hot. Powell must walk the thin tightrope of tempering inflation whilst making sure to not spook economic growth in doing so," said Alex Livingstone, head of trading for FX & ETFs at Titan Asset Management. "The recent pivot towards pricing a progressively higher rate environment means equities can rebound from h...
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