3 Things to Watch in Wednesday’s Federal Reserve Statement

The Federal Reserve is set to release its March statement on Wednesday. Steve Blitz, chief economist at ITG, doesn’t expect the Fed to announce a hike to short-term interest rates, but anticipates some optimistic messaging about the economy in the Fed’s statement, compared to its most recent one in January, when falling oil prices and a slowdown in China’s economy dominated the headlines. ‘With this meeting, there’s a little bit more stability in the underlying economy and the equity markets have clearly stabilized and rallied back from the lows,’ Blitz said. ‘While they won’t [hike rates], they’ll probably show a certain amount of optimism and confirm a schedule of tightening.’ TheStreet’s Scott Gamm reports from Wall Street.