CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: The Federal Reserve is expected to raise interest rates again today. Most economists think the Fed will boost the federal funds rate by a half percentage point to 6 1/2 percent. Details on how this might affect stock trading, we're going to go Lisa Leiter of CNN Financial News at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange for the latest on stock futures. First, Lisa, how do you expect the -- if there is an announcement today, what sort of impact is there going to be on the market?</s>LISA LEITER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, most market watchers are saying that the bond and stock markets have already priced in a half a percentage point rate hike by the Federal Reserve today. The markets have expected that because of the strong growth in the economy and the inflationary pressures that we've been seen lately in some of the economic reports, that the Fed needs to be more aggressive than its gradualist approach. So most people expect the markets to actually rally today if the Fed raises rate by a half a percentage point, and many people are actually saying that if the Fed doesn't raise rates by a half a percentage point, that the markets would actually sell-off with the idea that the Fed isn't being ahead of the curve on inflation.</s>LIN: So if there is an announcement this afternoon, what happens after that announcement?</s>LEITER: Well, if -- when there's an announcement the Fed will announce whether or not it does raise rates by either half a percentage point, a quarter of a percentage point, or maybe not at all, but that's not expected to happen. And then they also issue a statement where they talk about the economy, and investors will be watching that statement very closely because they say it's not only as important as what the Fed does today, but what they're going to be doing at future meetings. Their next meeting is in June, and investors will be watching that statement very closely for any clues about future interest rate hikes.</s>LIN: All right, thank you very much, Lisa Leiter, at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Bond and Stock Markets Expect 50 Basis Point Hike by Fed Today