Fed Rate Hike: Down to the Wire

By the end of the day, the world will be different. Global economies will have to be readjusted and markets will fluctuate accordingly.

When the Fed meeting closes at 18:00 GMT today, there will either be an interest rate hike—or there won’t be. It is one of the most anticipated policy decisions taken by the Federal Reserve in years and its affect will have wide spread repercussions throughout the world.

Analysts are still betting on whether the Fed will raise U.S. interest rates for the first time since 2006, with a narrow majority expecting the Fed to stay tight. Only last week, they predicted a rate hike.

Asia Edged Up

Meanwhile investors are not sitting idly by. Asian stocks edged up to a three-week high on Thursday while the dollar drifted lower against other currencies.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan rose 0.8 percent to its highest level in three weeks, while Japan's Nikkei average rose 0.7 percent. Australian shares rose 1 percent.

Stephen Chiu, a strategist at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group in Hong Kong told reporters, "We think it is going to be a very close call. Communicating the future path of interest rates is very important and the Fed would be careful not to signal any excessive tightening given global markets are still very vulnerable."

One item contributing to the Wall Street’s sharp gains on Wednesday was news of diminishing delivery of U.S. oil which eased worries about over supply and helped boost battered energy stock prices. Precious metals, gold and silver prices all rose shrinking the chance of an immediate rate hike.

Cina Coren
Cina Coren is a former Wall Street broker and financial advisor. She holds a Master's degree in Communications and spent many years writing for international news outlets and journalistic publications. Today, Cina spends most of her time writing internet articles and blogs, and reading various newspapers to stay on top of the news.