Fed Reserve hikes interest rates for first time in 7 years

WASHINGTON (AP) — The latest on the Federal Reserve's landmark two-day policy meeting that ended Wednesday. The central bank raised interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. All times local.

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2:00 p.m.

The Fed just lifted rates, ending seven years of an extraordinary measure to combat the damage from the 2008 financial crisis.

Fed officials voted unanimously to raise the key federal funds rate — the interest banks charge each other overnight — to a range of 0.25 percent to 0.5 percent, up from near-zero for the first time since December 2008.

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With Fed rate hike expected, 5 things to look for Wednesday

WASHINGTON (AP) — A rate increase is finally coming.

That, at least, is the overwhelming expectation for the Federal Reserve on Wednesday. It would be the first rate hike in nine years. And it would raise the Fed's key rate from a record low near zero, where it's been for seven years.

Yet that won't be the only news from the Fed. And it might not even be the most important. With a rate hike considered a near certainty, investors are more focused on a separate question:

How much and how fast will the Fed likely raise rates further in coming months?

The answer to that may come from the triple-dose of news the central bank will issue Wednesday — a policy statement, economic forecasts and a news conference by Chair Janet Yellen.

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