Eyes on Fed after bank stimulus moves

NEW YORK: The Federal Reserve could be key for Wall Street next week as investors get to hear from the US central bank for the first time since a series of moves by its global peers, including the European Central Bank’s massive stimulus plan.
Thursday’s larger-than-expected stimulus package from the ECB lifted US stocks, helping indexes post gains for the week after three straight weeks of losses.
But the increased stimulus measures from the ECB and elsewhere globally, including the Bank of Canada, may make it tougher for the Fed to move ahead with its own plan to start raising interest rates by mid-year, lest US economic policy move out of sync with the rest of the world.
“Global central policy is not one of their mandates, but I think they have to acknowledge it, because this is not just global economic headwinds, this is actually the moves of other central banks. The Fed is expected to reiterate that those global risks have not yet put the US recovery or the Fed’s rate plans off track when it issues its policy statement at the close of its two-day meeting on Wednesday.