However, the focus of the session was on FOMC. Federal Reserve officials left interest rates unchanged and said they still expect to raise borrowing costs at a “gradual” pace while watching to see how the global economy and markets impact the U.S. outlook. The Federal Open Market Committee is “closely monitoring global economic and financial developments and is assessing their implications for the labor market and inflation, and for the balance of risks to the outlook,” the central bank said in a statement Wednesday following a two-day meeting in Washington. The Fed omitted a line from the previous statement in December saying the risks to the outlook were “balanced.”
Chair Janet Yellen and her Fed colleagues, explaining their unanimous decision to leave the target range for their benchmark federal funds rate at 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, said that recent information “suggests that labor market conditions improved further even as economic growth slowed late last year.” Reiterating the interest-rate outlook from the December statement, the FOMC said Wednesday that it “expects that economic conditions will evolve in a manner that will warrant only gradual increases in the federal funds rate.”
Tomorrow, from the UK, Prelim GDP data will be released. Analysts are forecasting 0.5% increase. US session will bring Durable Goods Orders, Unemployment Claims and Pending Home Sales figures. Pending Home Sales are expected to increase by 1.0%, while Unemployment Claims should decline to 281,000 and Durable Goods Orders should show 0.6% fall.
Figures to watch:
Prelim GDP (Thursday 10:30)
Durable Goods Orders (Thursday 14:30)
Unemployment Claims (Thursday 14:30)
Pending Home Sales (Thursday 16:00)
