Fed Minutes Show Hesitation To Taper In September

(RTTNews) - The Federal Reserve remains divided about when to taper its massive bond-buying plan, the minutes of their July meeting revealed Wednesday.

A few members said the Fed should be patient before scaling back monetary stimulus, while some argued that "it might soon be time to slow somewhat."

Members expect the Fed will slow down the pace of its $85 billion-per-month asset purchase plan by the end of the year, as long as the economic recovery continues.

However, policy makers were concerned that talk of pre-mature tightening would rattle equity markets.

"Meeting participants pointed to heightened financial market uncertainty about the path of monetary policy and a shift of market expectations toward less policy accommodation," the minutes stated.

A number of officials expressed concerns about recent increases in mortgage rates, higher oil prices, slow growth in key U.S. export markets, and reduced government spending.

However, several participants remained confident that the housing recovery would be resilient in the face of the higher rates.