Federal Reserve officials restated their pledge to hold thebenchmark interest rate near zero and will keepbuying bonds, judging that the coronavirus pandemic "poses considerable risksto the economic outlook over the medium term."

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a unanimousstatement Wednesday in Washington that it "will use its tools andact as appropriate to support the economy."

Officials Wednesday left unchanged their vague guidance on thefuture path of rates. The statement repeated language from March 15saying the committee would keep the benchmark target range nearzero "until it is confident that the economy has weathered recentevents and is on track to achieve its maximum employment and pricestability goals."

U.S. stocks held gains after the Fed's statement, while yieldson 10-year Treasury notes edged up slightly, to 0.62 percent.

Regarding asset purchases, the FOMC used wording similar to lastmonth, saying the buying of Treasuries and mortgage-backedsecurities will continue "in the amounts needed to support smoothmarket functioning, thereby fostering effective transmission ofmonetary policy to broader financial conditions."

Unprecedented Action

The central bank has mounted an unprecedented push to limit theeconomic harm of the coronavirus, which has plunged the global economy into recession andlikely sent U.S. unemployment well above 10 percent afterbusinesses shuttered to slow the contagion. Government datareleased earlier on Wednesday showed U.S. gross domestic product(GDP) shrank at an annualized 4.8 percent rate in the firstquarter, the largest drop since 2008.

Policymakers last month slashed their benchmark rate andlaunched a massive bond-buying campaign to stabilize markets forTreasury and mortgage-backed securities that had become dangerouslyunsettled amid the pandemic. The federal funds rate has stood in arange of 0 to 0.25 percent since mid-March.

The central bank's Board of Governors has also responded to thecrisis by announcing nine extraordinary lending programs,pledging to make funds available to banks, money market funds,companies, cities, and states in an unprecedented use of the Fed'semergency powers.

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