Ebbing Market Risk Gives Fed the Option to Delay Tapering
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Federal Reserve policy makers have wrung out some risk in financial markets by signaling plans to wind down $85 billion in monthly bond purchases, buying time to press on with record stimulus should the economy need it.
A range of market risk measures have fallen since May 22, when Chairman Ben S. Bernanke said the Fed may consider tapering purchases “in the next few meetings” if the labor market shows signs of sustainable gains. The value of the largest leveraged loans has fallen 0.6 percent, and speculative-grade debt sold by companies has dropped by more than half since the start of June, compared with the prior two-month period.