Bernanke pulls trigger on QE3

The Federal Reserve has unleashed a third round of quantitative easing to support the US economy following a wave of poor data and a weakening labour market.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) has agreed to an open-ended QE programme which will see it buying additional mortgage-backed securities at a rate of $40bn per month. The new purchases and Operation Twist combined will see the Fed buying $85bn a month of bonds up to the end of the year. This latest action should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates, support mortgage markets, and help to make broader financial conditions more accommodative, the statement said. It also said the target range for the federal funds rate will remain "exceptionally low" until at lea...