The Federal Reserve Bank of New York carried out US$53 billion ($83.6b) in transactions known as repurchase agreements Tuesday as a way to relieve upward pressure on interest rates in overnight money markets.
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Economists do not see the action as a signal about where the Fed plans to move its key policy rate, known as the federal funds rate, but rather as a technical exercise to keep the rate in the range set by the central bank.
The Fed is expected to cut this benchmark rate for a second time this year at its meeting this week.
The target for the funds rate, which is the interest rate banks pay each other for overnight loans, currently stands in a range of 2 per cent to 2.25 per cent after a quarter-point cut in July.