Sophia Ferguson, State Street Global........>

US VIEW: Sophia Ferguson, State Street Global Advisors senior portfolio manager

for active fixed income and currency, said of FOMC outcome that "amidst

headlines captivated by possibilities for tax reform and speculation over the

appointment of the next Fed Chair, the penultimate FOMC meeting of 2017 passed

with muted fanfare."

- She said "today's statement did little to sharpen policy guidance, yet broadly

encouraging data and strong guidance from the Fed's leadership during the

intermeeting period suggest the committee is still on track to hike for a third

time this year. With market implied probabilities for a December hike hovering

around 85 percent going into the meeting, investors considered an end-of-year

hike to be a foregone conclusion and today's statement gives them limited reason

to question this assessment."

- She said that "although the Fed maintains that policy is not on a pre-set

course and incoming inflation data will be heavily scrutinized, the absence of a

strong inflationary rebound is unlikely to quell a December rate hike."