Federal Reserve to announce policy decision at 2 pm ET

The Federal Reserve will announce its latest policy decision this afternoon.

Although the Fed is expected to keep interest rates pinned at near-zero, the central bankmay offer some clues on when it will slow its aggressive asset purchase program.

Since the depths of the pandemic, the Fed has been snatching up $120 billion a month in U.S Treasuries and agency mortgage-backed securities.

With inflationary pressures rising and the economy on the path to recovery,some Fed officials said they were eager to have discussionson paring back the pace of the so-called quantitative easing program.

But the Fed remains concerned about the recovery in the labor market, asMay jobs datashowed the economy is still 7.6 million jobs short of pre-pandemic levels.

The policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee will release a statement at 2 p.m. ET, alongside a set of economic projections mapping out forecasts for economic indicators like inflation and unemployment.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell will then be pressed on the central bank's policy stance at a press conference at 2:30 p.m. ET.