Fed expected to hold rates steady days ahead of US midterms

The US Federal Reserve appears set to hold interest rates steady at its meeting next week, analysts say, despite stubbornly high inflation and with markets pricing in at least one rate hike before year-end. The Fed has missed its long-term two-percent target for inflation for more than five years, and at its last meeting in September the FOMC voted to raise the key federal funds rate for the first time in three years, lifting the target range to 3.75 percent to 4.0 percent.