The daily business briefing: September 20, 2017

Stocks hover ahead of word from Fed, Walgreens says regulators cleared it to buy 1,932 Rite Aid stores, and more

A Walgreens store in California
(Image credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

1. Stocks flat ahead of Fed statement

U.S. stock futures were flat early and global markets were little changed ahead of the close of the Federal Reserve's two-day meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank's policy makers are expected to announce plans to begin reducing the Fed's $4.5 trillion bond portfolio, which it piled up as part of its efforts to boost the economy. Investors will be looking for clues in the Fed statement regarding its plans for raising interest rates. The Fed left its benchmark rate at a record low for seven years after the 2008 financial crisis. The Fed started raising rates again in December 2015. After four hikes, policy makers have held off on a fifth, despite strong job gains as inflation edged down from their two-percent target.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us
Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.