The publication of the minutes of last month's Federal Reserve Open Markets Committee meeting yesterday triggered a dramatic response on the US stock market, which enjoyed its strongest day in two years, and a debate among economists about whether the Fed had sent as strong a signal as the market thought.

The minutes said: "Most members thought that the end of the tightening process was likely to be near, and some expressed concerns about the dangers of tightening too much given the lags in the effects of policy."