In the US, The Federal Reserve starts a two-day meeting on Tuesday and is likely to keep rates unchanged near zero.  However the key factor will be whether the Fed will reiterate its dovish bias.

The central bank’s policy-setting meeting today and tomorrow will mark a year since the Fed cut benchmark interest rates to near zero. A year on the economic picture has vastly improved and the recovery is gaining strength, no doubt bringing closer the day the Fed starts to inch away from its supportive policies.

Policy-makers, however, have continued to point to still strained credit markets and high unemployment as reasons the economy will crawl rather than bounce back to health.

The UK market and the European markets have opened in positive territory up flat. US futures markets are pointing to a flat start to trading with the Dow opening up 7 points.

© Brooks Macdonald Asset Management 2009

Sources: Reuters: BBC, Bloomberg, Lawshare, Deutsche Bank (db), Proquote, Financial Times, Wall Street

Journal, CLSA, Sharescope, Market News, Capital Economics, CNBC, Wikipedia.

Please note this report provides a guide to some of the relevant areas that individual investors should consider discussing with an authorised adviser in relation to their specific circumstances, it does not constitute individual advice. As a result no action should be taken or refrained from being taken as a result of its content.