Benchmarks eked out gains during Friday's trading session even as new home sales data plunged, adding skepticism over tapering of the bond purchase program. President of the St. Louis Fed, James Bullard said to CNBC: "Inflation is running low, you've got mixed data on the economy, so I'd be cautious and I wouldn't want to pre-judge the meeting". Additionally, Atlanta Fed president, Dennis Lockhart also indicated that any tapering of the bond purchase program would take place slowly, over a longer period of time.