Investing.com - Investors will be focusing on the outcome of the Federal Reserve’s monthly policy meeting later Wednesday. Meanwhile, the U.K. is to release its latest jobs report, while the Bank of England is to publish its latest meeting minutes. Later Wednesday, New Zealand is to release data on fourth quarter growth.
Federal Open Market Committee Meeting
This will be the first Federal Reserve board meeting with Janet Yellen at the helm. Investors expect the Fed to continue to taper its bond purchasing program by $10 billion to $55 billion, despite recent weak U.S. economic reports. The central bank is also expected to hold interest rates at record lows. The Fed meeting is to be followed by a press conference with Janet Yellen and the bank is also to publish its forecasts on inflation and economic growth.
U.K. jobs report and Bank of England minutes
The U.K. is to release official data on the unemployment rate. Market expectations are for the unemployment rate to remain unchanged at 7.2%, while the number of people claiming unemployment benefits is expected to continue to decline. The BoE is to publish the minutes of its March meeting. The BoE left interest rates on hold at 0.5% earlier this month, and reiterated that rates will remain at current levels for some time.
New Zealand GDP
New Zealand is to publish data on fourth quarter gross domestic product on Wednesday. Last week, the New Zealand dollar rallied to 10-month highs against the greenback after the Reserve Bank raised interest rates to 2.75% from a record low 2.5%, becoming the first developed nation to exit record-low borrowing costs. The bank also revised up its forecast for growth in the year to March 31.