Fed may raise rates by next spring: Yellen

[WASHINGTON] The US Federal Reserve will probably end its massive bond-buying programme this autumn, and could start raising interest rates around six months later, Fed chair Janet Yellen said on Wednesday, in a comment which sent stocks and bonds tumbling.

Ms Yellen's remarks at her first news conference as the head of the central bank pointed to a more aggressive path toward higher interest rates than many had anticipated, and bets in financial markets shifted accordingly.

The comments came after a two-day meeting in which Fed officials made another reduction in their bond-buying stimulus and decided to jettison a set of guideposts they were using to help the public anticipate when they would finally raise rates.