As it said goodbye to the man who led it through eight history-making years, the Federal Reserve did as it was expected Wednesday, voting to reduce the monthly stimulus program by another $10 billion.
Chairman Ben Bernanke led his last Fed meeting as the Open Markets Committee decided to continue unwinding a program that has expanded the U.S. central bank’s balance sheet to more than $4 trillion.
The unanimous decision—a rare Fed occurrence—came amid a tumultuous background of emerging market currency tremors and an uncertain though gradually improving future for the U.S. economy. Stocks have been lagging in 2014 after a blockbuster previous year, and some in the market believe adjustments to new Fed policy is part of the reason.