Constantin Gurdgiev: Long-term Fed path may force ECB to act

Positives for Ireland, but 'normalisation' in US may lead to higher euro zone rates

US Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen holds a news conference after the central bank announced an increase in the benchmark interest rate. Pic: Getty

On Wednesday, the US Federal Reserve Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC)raised its headline policy rate 25 basis points to a range of 0.5 per cent to 0.75 per cent. This marked an end to a year of active inaction by the Fed that started with an interest rate hike in December 2015.

The immediate impact of the Fed hike is less important andhas already been priced by the markets. In anticipation of the ...