Fed officials keep eyes on mid-2015 rate rise

LAS VEGAS, Oct 10 (Reuters): The Federal Reserve will probably start raising interest rates around the middle of next year, two top officials at the US central bank said on Thursday, although both said the exact timing will depend on the economy.
"What we think now is that the capital markets have it more or less right but we don't ourselves know when we're going to do it," Fed Vice Chairman Stanley Fischer said in Washington.
"On the basis of our forecasts of the data ... it looks like markets more or less have it right - somewhere in the middle of the year."
The Fed has kept rates near zero since 2008 and has nearly quadrupled its balance sheet to more than $4 trillion through a series of bond purchase programs in an effort to push borrowing costs down further and boost hiring.
With the US jobless rate at 5.9 per cent and closing in on what the central bank sees as consistent with full employment, officials plan to wrap up their bond buying this month.
Now, investors are rushing to place bets on when rates will rise.