Federal Reserve's Bullard: tapering possible in October

The Federal Reserve could decide at its October monetary policy meeting to taper its USD85 billion monthly asset-purchasing program, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard said Friday.

On Wednesday, the Fed decided to leave the stimulus program unchanged, surprising many who were expecting a decision to trim the amount of assets purchased a month by USD10 billion or even more.

The Federal Reserve will hold its next monetary policy meeting Oct. 29-30 but is not due to hold a press conference that day, which left many expecting a decision to taper asset purchases to come in December, though don't rule out action next month if economic indicators improve before then.

“This was a close decision here in September, so it’s possible you could get some data that change the complexion of the outlook and could make the committee be comfortable with a small taper in October,” Bullard told Bloomberg Television. 

“It’s possible, but I’m not saying it will happen. You have other meetings after that.”

The dollar regained traction in part on Bullard's comments.

Stimulus tools such as monthly asset purchases drive down interest rates to spur recovery, weakening the dollar while boosting stock and commodity prices in the process.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the greenback versus a basket of six other major currencies, was up 0.08% at 80.55 in afternoon trading on Friday.