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Fed likely to hold steady

Economists at eight of Wall Street's big bond firms now predict the Federal Reserve will wait until next year to raise interest rates, twice as many as made that forecast a week ago. Expectations that slumping stocks may temper an economic rebound prompted economists at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein Securities LLC, HSBC Securities USA Inc, Lehman Brothers Inc, Mizuho Securities USA Inc and Nomura Securities International Inc to join three other dealers that trade directly with the Fed in saying the central bank would leave its benchmark rate at 1.75 percent until at least January. Economists have become more pessimistic about the economy as the Standard & Poor's 500 Index has tumbled in 12 of the past 15 weeks, losing 15 percent of its value.

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