HERE COMES THE FED DECISION...
After shocking Wall Street and catching markets off guard with its decision to refrain from an initial tapering of its quantitative easing program at its September meeting, the FOMC is now largely expected to hold off on such a move until March 2014.
Market participants will be closely watching for tweaks in the language of today's statement. Many believe the Fed will attempt to send markets a dovish signal by modifying the section of the statement on the economy to reflect potential damage from the fiscal crisis in Washington, D.C.
However, given expectations, there is a lot of room for disappointment.
Citi's Steven Englander and and Deutsche Bank's Alan Ruskin - both heads of G-10 FX strategy at their respective banks - believe the Fed will attempt to leave the door open to the possibility of tapering QE before March, which would likely come across as hawkish.
Here, a key signal to watch for in the statement is how the FOMC addresses financial conditions, which have improved since the FOMC cited them in its September decision to refrain from tapering.
"It is more or less inevitable that the FOMC changes the September language on [financial conditions] in a more hawkish direction," warns Ruskin.
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