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NEW YORK (AP) - Bonds slipped in light trading Monday, as traders and investors waited for the outcome of the Federal Reserve meeting that began Monday.
The Fed on Tuesday will end its two-day policy gathering — the first held under new Chairman Ben Bernanke — with what is almost certain to be a quarter percentage point hike in the funds rate to 4.75 percent. This would be the Fed's 15th consecutive increase, leaving the fed funds rate at its highest level since the spring of 2001.
The Federal Open Market Committee meeting comes at a time of increased uncertainty for the monetary policy outlook. Most Wall Street economists are confident that the Fed will lift rates again when it meets on May 10 to 5 percent, but markets aren't so sure in the wake of economic data last Friday suggesting weakness in the housing market.
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