The Federal Reserve’s last policy meeting of the year, which started on Tuesday, is the focus of the financial markets.<br /><br />Chairman Ben Bernanke and the others at the top table at the US central bank will certainly be discussing reducing their massive monetary stimulus during the two-day meeting.<br /><br />The question is will they make even a small cut to their purchases of $85 billion a month of bonds?<br /><br />That is a possibility because of some recent robust US economic data, combined with last week’s budget deal by politicians in Washington. <br /><br />Key numbers including employment, retail sales and industrial production have all pointed to an economy that is on an upswing.<br /><br />A bounce back in the annual US inflation rate from a four-year low could give the Fed cover to start dialing back that stimulus.
