The U.S. Federal Reserve Board left rates unchanged on Tuesday, and more or less repeated its previous policy statement — leaving economists to reiterate their views on the timing of future rate hikes too.

As expected, the Federal Open Market Committee didn’t alter the target rate for the Fed Funds rate, and economists see little changed in the accompanying policy statement, including the commitment to keep rates low for the foreseeable future.

“With incoming economic data being somewhat mixed over the recent weeks, the FOMC had no need to change the essence of its message,” notes National Bank Financial.

TD also sees the wording and tone of the statement as “largely unchanged,” leaving it to conclude that the Fed will likely leave rates unchanged until the first quarter of 2011.

NBF has a more bullish view on the recovery, and therefore on the likely timing of interest rate hikes too. “With economic data still consistent with a strengthening of the economy, we continue to expect the FOMC to begin normalizing interest rates at its August 10 meeting,” it says.

IE