Federal Reserve keeps stimulus in place in October meeting

The Federal Reserve announced no significant changes to U.S. monetary policy Wednesday afternoon, meaning that its $85 billion-a-month bond-buying program will remain in place and at its current size for now. No major moves were expected.

In a statement released at the end of a two-day meeting, the central bank said that it will “await more evidence that progress will be sustained” before slowing its purchases of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities. The Fed also reaffirmed the second part of its stimulus program, the promise to keep short-term interest rates near zero until the unemployment rate falls to 6.5 percent.