All eyes on the FOMC meeting amid the gloom

THERE'S very little doubt over what this week's main market-moving event will be - the US Federal Open Markets Committee (FOMC) meeting over Tuesday and Wednesday.

It's the most-closely watched meeting in seven years since it will probably lead to a first interest rate hike since December 2008 when rates were lowered to almost zero to save a crumbling Wall Street in the wake of the US subprime crisis.

Fast forward to December 2015 and the US economy is deemed strong enough to stand on its own without monetary support, a conclusion drawn mainly from improving employment and wage numbers. So, at the end of last week, the federal funds futures market was pricing in a 76 per cent probability that this week will see "liftoff".