LONDON — Markets were largely in wait-and-see mode Wednesday ahead of the latest policy decision from the U.S. Federal Reserve and subsequent remarks from its new chief.
In spite of some recent soft economic data in the wake of bad weather across large parts of the U.S., most analysts expect the Fed to continue to reduce its monetary stimulus at the speed it has already set, trimming its monthly bond purchases by another $10 billion to $55 billion. The meeting is the first under the leadership of new Chair Janet Yellen.
"There is little reason to expect otherwise," said Neil MacKinnon, global macro strategist at VTB Capital. "The Fed is naturally going to move gradually in normalizing its monetary policy, if for no other reason that it has to be careful that it does not upset the U.S. economic recovery."
In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares fell 0.5 percent to close at 6,573.13 while Germany's DAX rose 0.4 percent to 9,277.05. The CAC-40 in France ended 0.2 percent lower at 4,308.06.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 16,341.23 while the broader S&P 500 index rose almost 0.1 percent to 1,872.87.
Earlier this week, markets were buoyed by relief that the sanctions on Russia announced by the U.S. and the European Union were limited and did not directly affect trade ties. However, concerns over the situation in Crimea, which is now effectively part of Russia, remain after masked Russian-speaking troops seized control of Ukrainian naval headquarters.
Earlier in Asia, stocks traded in narrow ranges with Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closing up 0.4 percent at 14,462.52. China's Shanghai Composite Index dropped 0.2 percent to 2,021.73 while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.1 percent to 21,568.69.
Elsewhere, the focus was on the Fed, too, with trading fairly muted. Among currencies, the euro was down 0.1 percent at $1.3916 while the dollar rose 0.1 percent to 101.56 yen. Meanwhile, a barrel of benchmark New York crude was up 12 cents at $99.82.
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