Fed botches release of policy meeting minutes The minutes showed that a few policymakers expected to ease off the pace of asset purchases by mid-year, eventually halting asset purchases before 2014. "A few members felt that the risks and costs of purchases, along with the improved outlook since last fall, would likely make a reduction in the pace of purchases appropriate around midyear, with purchases ending later this year," they said. Several others thought that if the outlook for labor market conditions improved as anticipated, it would probably be appropriate to slow purchases later in the year and to stop them by year-end. At the meeting, the Fed decided to continue the ramped-up, $85bn a month asset purchase programme unveiled by chairman Ben Bernanke in December. The FTSE 100 has climbed nearly 14 points following the release, while the S&P 500 spiked on its open on the back of the news. However, markets are not expected to display a significant reaction to the minutes, which have since been overshadowed by discouraging jobs figures released last week. "Those Fed minutes have rather caught markets on the hop, but it is perhaps unwise to attribute too much importance to them in the wake of Friday's job numbers," said Chris Beauchamp, analyst at IG Markets. Any comments about reducing QE before the end of the year now look somewhat out of place following the surprise weakness in the US economy.