Here Comes The Fed ...
Expectations are for, well, not much.
The Fed is expected to keep interest rates pegged at 0%-0.25%, and Wall Street expects the Fed will reiterate that it plans to remain "patient" in beginning to raise interest rates.
In its December statement, the Fed replaced the phrase "considerable time" with "patient" in crafting its forward guidance on interest rate policy.
In a press conference following the Fed's December meeting, Fed Chair Janet Yellen said "patience" implied the Fed would wait at least two meetings before raising rates. Wednesday's meeting is the first.
Ahead of Wednesday's meeting, Marc Chandler wrote that, "To the extent the FOMC meeting is ever routine, this should be it." Chair Yellen will not speak to the media after Wednesday's announcement.
Any changes in the Fed's language on how it sees inflation pressures and labor market conditions will be picked up by the markets, though we get additional readings on the labor market in Friday's GDP release and of course, the January jobs report at the end of next week.
In a note ahead of Wednesday's report, Steve Englander at Citi wrote that the risks for the market are that the Fed will come off sounding "hawkish," or like it wants to raise rates before the market expects.
Ahead of the Fed's announcement, stocks were higher but little changed, while bond yields had backed up some but were also little changed.
Keep it here, as we will have full coverage of the announcement and any market reaction live.