Getting your player ready...
Washington – The Federal Reserve kept interest rates steady Tuesday, giving holiday shoppers a reason for some cheer. However, the Fed held back an extra gift Wall Street was hoping for: a signal that rates might be lowered soon.
Wrapping up their last meeting of the year, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke and all but one of his central-bank colleagues agreed to leave the federal funds rate unchanged at 5.25 percent, the fourth straight meeting without budging the rate.
That meant commercial banks’ prime interest rate – for certain credit cards, home-equity lines of credit and other loans – stayed at 8.25 percent.
