The Federal Reserve is almost certain to raise interest rates for the 17th successive time to 5.25 per cent at the end of its two-day policy meeting on Thursday.

Attention will be focused on its statement, which may offer some clues as to whether this rate rise will be followed by at least one more later this year. While there have been rumours that the Fed could surprise the market with a 50 basis point increase, this is highly unlikely.