The US Federal Reserve, ending its two-day monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, is expected to announce that it will ease its monthly bond-buying program that it started to support the economy during the pandemic.
Another question that markets are seeking answers to is how the central bank is discussing inflation.
Reports of higher-than-anticipated inflation raise expectations that the Fed will begin raising interest rates next year, sooner than expected, to combat the higher price trend.
Economists expect the central bank to announce that it will begin ending its $120 billion monthly bond purchases around mid-November or mid-December, aiming to complete the program completely by the middle of next year.
Fed Chairman Jerome Powell emphasizes that the end of the program does not mark the beginning of a new cycle of rate hikes. Powell is expected to repeat this message at his post-meeting briefing on Wednesday.
On a related note, speaking at the end of his European visit, US President Biden said that he would make a statement regarding his Fed appointments fairly quickly, but did not give details. Powell's term, which has been criticized by Democrats in Congress, ends in February.
Russia-US security relations
William Burns, director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is visiting the Russian capital Moscow, to discuss US-Russia relations.
A spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow said Burns led a delegation of senior US officials on Tuesday and Wednesday to meet with the Russian side, at the request of President Joe Biden.
The American spokesman said that the Russian-speaking CIA chief Burns, who was also the US ambassador to Moscow, met with Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of the Russian Security Council.
Both sides declined to give details of the meeting.
Russian-based cyberattacks against US targets, Moscow's support for the regime in Syria, deepening ties with Belarusian leader Lukashenko, imprisoning of opposition politician Alexei Navalny, Russian annexation of Crimea, and the war in Eastern Ukraine have brought Washington — Moscow relations to a post-Cold War historic low.
Taiwan Strait
China's Ministry of Commerce urged local authorities to stabilize the food supply, and urged families to stockpile their daily necessities.
Reporting the news, the Hong Congress-based South China Morning Post newspaper claimed that the announcement before the winter and during the long pandemic caused panic, as some linked it to a possible war with Taiwan.
The newspaper also reported that Taiwan's Defense Minister has implied that his country has been sending troops to the island of Guam for years for training and joint exercises with United States.
On the other hand, US President Joe Biden, speaking at the climate summit he attended in Scotland, said he was not interested in the possibility of an armed conflict with China and made it clear to Chinese President Xi Jinping that it was "competition", not "conflict".
US stocks
The S&P500 rose to a record high on Tuesday ahead of the Fed's decision, while strong corporate earnings gave investors confidence in the earnings rally.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 138.79 points, setting a new record with 36,052.63. The S&P500 rose 0.3% to 4,630.65 to close at an all-time high. The tech-focused Nasdaq Composite rose 0.3% to 15,649.60. This is the third session in a row that the three main indexes close at record highs. The Russell 2000 has risen slightly to an all-time high.
Pfizer shares rose 4.1% after the drugmaker's third-quarter earnings beat expectations.
