WASHINGTON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Federal Reserve resumed a two-day meeting on Tuesday that was expected to end with a decision to cut rates by at least half a percentage point and a possible signal of unconventional action to come.
A half-point cut in the Fed's target for the interbank federal funds rate would take it to just 0.5 percent.
With room to lower benchmark overnight rates dwindling, Fed officials were mulling alternative policies to try to lift the U.S. economy out of a year-old recession.
The meeting resumed at 9 a.m. (1400 GMT), a Fed official said. An announcement outlining the rate decision and the central bank's thinking on policy is expected around 2:15 p.m. (1915 GMT).