Wild Markets Seen No Barrier This Time to Unstoppable Fed
- MSCI All-Country World Index is falling for a sixth day
- Traders are pricing in 78% chance of Wednesday liftoff
Charting the Risk of a Federal Reserve Rate Hike
This article is for subscribers only.
Once again, the Federal Reserve is about to make a historic interest-rate decision against a backdrop of rising equity volatility, tumbling commodity prices and jitters in credit markets. This time, investors expect policy makers to pull the trigger.
Janet Yellen has been preparing financial markets for a rates liftoff this week as evidence grows that the U.S. economy is strong enough to weather tighter monetary policy. Many market watchers were taken by surprise when the Fed held off at their September meeting, even in the wake of the first correction in the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index in four years.