Bernanke Expected To Announce End of Fed Stimulus Today

Following end of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting

Eyes across the globe will be trained on Washington on Wednesday as the Federal Reserve concludes its two-day meeting.

US Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to announce an end to the central bank's extraordinary stimulus efforts.

Fed watchers believe that the bank will begin to slow down its purchase of $85bn of bonds monthly.

This would indicate that Fed officials think the US economy is back on track.

Markets have been primed to expect a slowdown in the bank's efforts at quantitative easing, in a move known as a "taper", ever since Mr Bernanke hinted at a pullback in front of Congress in June.