“There are also implications for United Kingdom monetary policy – it’s widely thought that the Federal Reserve will be the first to raise rates”.

“There’s a powerful case to be made that it’s time to raise interest rates”.

Comfortable enough on inflation for rate liftoff.

Fed Chair Janet Yellen said during a press conference on Thursday following the release of the Fed’s statement that “a great majority” of FOMC members favor raising rates before then end of 2015. Bullion prices have dropped about 4% this year, on uncertainty over the timing of a rate hike.

St. Louis Federal Reserve Bank President and CEO James Bullard is ready to increase interest rates. “Others have used that term and I agree”, he said, describing the FOMC decision to delay liftoff. “The economy itself, the goals of the Committee, have essentially been met”. In the new round of economic projections, officials estimated the unemployment rate would stop falling when it reached 4.8 percent, just slightly below last month’s level of 5.1 percent.

Still, “getting some more clarity around what is really happening in the global economy, how is that affecting the US economy, and also seeing continued progress in the USA economy – these are all things I’m watching”, Williams said when asked about a possible rate rise in October. South Korea’s Kospi added 1 percent while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.3 percent.

It further said, “The Committee continues to see the risks to the outlook for economic activity and the labor market as nearly balanced but is monitoring developments overseas “.

But the Fed held fire citing concerns about how the slowdown in China would hit the U.S. economy. The Nikkei 225 fell 2 percent as traders fretted about the potential impact on Japanese exports stemming from the yen’s appreciation.

Lacker, an anti-inflation hawk, dissented in favor of higher interest rates on Thursday.

“What was problematic is that the Fed introduced a greater measure of concern about global issues”, said Mr Jorge Mariscal, chief investment officer for emerging markets at UBS. South Africa’s central bank has raised the benchmark interest rate twice since July last year and the rand, which is linked to the value of the country’s commodities, has softened 12 percent against the dollar this year, Bloomberg reported.

“There is not a lot of data”, Bullard said in a question and answer session with reporters.

September FOMC decision was a “close call”.

The Fed’s decision to stand pat has “done more harm than good”, Wunderlich’s Art Hogan says.