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Wall Street stocks little changed on Fed's economic forecasts

Business Materials 19 February 2009 02:43 (UTC +04:00)

US stocks were mostly unchanged Wednesday as the Federal Reserve put forward a mixed economic forecast for the coming years and President Barack Obama unveiled a plan to help homeowners, dpa reported.

The US central bank said the economy would shrink between 0.5 per cent and 1.3 per cent this year, but would likely recover to a rate of 2.5 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 2010, according to the minutes of the last Federal Open Market Committee meeting in January.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said "aggressive" government action could lead to a modest recovery in 2009.

Obama unveiled a 75-billion-dollar plan to stem a record rate of foreclosures in the United States, the latest component of his administration's efforts to pull the world's largest economy out of a deep recession.

Shares of most financial firms were down on the day.

The blue-chip Dow Jones Industrial Average edged up 3.03 points, or 0.04 per cent, to 7,555.63. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 Index inched lower by 0.75 points, or 0.1 per cent, to 788.42. The technology-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index lost 2.69 points, or 0.18 per cent, to 1,470.66.

The US currency rose against the euro to 79.77 euro cents from 79.50 euro cents on Tuesday. The dollar rose against the Japanese currency to 93.80 yen from 92.39 yen on Tuesday.

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