THE United States Federal Reserve has ended its quantitative easing (QE) programme.

The decision was announced following the Fed's monthly policy meeting in Washington yesterday where it also signalled interest rates will stay low for some time.

It said "underlying strength" in the US economy meant QE could stop. It means the buying of financial assets with new money comes to an end almost six years after it was introduced. In total the Fed added $3.7 trillion (£2.3tr) of assets to its holdings, an eightfold increase.