US Fed seen raising rates despite $4-trillion wipeout after market plunge

Monday’s rout on Wall Street frayed investors’ nerves, but it is not enough to knock the Federal Reserve off course from its intended path to further raise interest rates in 2018 as the economy continues to hum along, analysts say.

The worldwide market sell-off in equities wiped out $4 trillion in value from record peaks eight days ago, raising concerns such a swift loss of wealth would hurt corporate investments and consumer spending just when many economies in addition to the United States are on a synchronised growth path.

Stocks recovered on Tuesday a fraction of what they lost over the prior two trading sessions, but the price declines and rise in bond yields does relieve a bit of the pressure on the Fed to raise rates.