Bernanke\'s presides over the last meeting as chairman before Yellen takes reins

The U.S. Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced a further $10 billion reduction in its monthly bond purchases as it stuck to a plan to wind down the extraordinary stimulus despite recent turmoil in emerging markets, Reuters reported. Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, who hands the central bank's reins to Vice Chair Janet Yellen on Friday, also adjourned his last policy-setting meeting without making any changes to the U.S. central bank's other main policy plank: its longer-term plan to keep interest rates low for some time to come. The Fed acknowledged that "economic activity picked up in recent quarters, in a statement after the two-day meeting, a nod to the broader U.S. economic strength that prompted it to decide last month to begin reducing the asset purchase plan. Starting in February, the Fed will buy $65 billion in bonds per month, down from $75 billion now. It shaved its purchases of U.S. Treasuries and mortgage bonds equally. The decision received unanimous backing from Fed policymakers.