The Federal Reserve stuck to its near-zero interest rate policy Thursday, and expectations now favor a December liftoff, according to a flash CNBC survey.
After the Fed decided not to raise rates, 56 percent of survey respondents said they believed the central bank would move in December. Most of the 40 economists and market watchers surveyed, 64 percent, expect the FOMC will increase short-term rates for the first time in nearly a decade at one of its two remaining meetings this year.
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Traders work as Janet Yellen, chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve, is seen speaking on a television screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2015.
Another 15 percent expect a hike in January of next year.
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In the same survey, 56 percent of respondents called Fed policy "too accommodative," while 33 percent characterized it as "just right."
According to a separate RBS measure, market expectations for the first full rate hike are priced into March. By the bank's measure, the odds of a December hike fell to 64 percent Thursday from 84 percent previously.
