Federal Reserve officially ends quantitative easing program

In a statement issued following its two-day meeting in Washington Wednesday, the Fed’s monetary policy committee also reinforced its commitment to holding short-term interest rates near zero into next year.

The statement made note of recent “solid job gains” and attributed a recent slowdown in inflation to lower energy prices, both small changes that will signal to investors that the Fed remains upbeat about the prospects for growth amid recent stock and bond market turbulence and slowing growth overseas.

Fed officials also underscored the fact that their plans for eventually raising interest rates remain dependent on the economy continuing to improve.