Judging by their reaction, traders found Wednesday’s Federal Reserve statement disappointing. It is hard to see what they were hoping for.

The Fed left the Fed Funds rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent, as universally expected. But the accompanying statement stayed almost unchanged, and that came as a surprise. Sentiment during the morning was that the Fed would change its wording to give a clear nudge towards the doves who want interest rates to go down, rather than the inflation hawks.