In a sign of easing pandemic-related support, the Federal Reserve decided to reduce the monthly pace of its net asset purchases, the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) said in a note issued on Wednesday. The Fed will now purchase $10 billion less of Treasury securities each month. It will also reduce its monthly purchases of agency mortgage-backed securities by $5 billion. This comes at a time when economic indicators and employment levels continue to improve following strong vaccination rollouts and considerable policy support. The committee also added that similar drops in the pace of net purchases are likely to take place in the future but remains open to different possibilities in case the economic outlook changes. The Federal Reserve also decided to keep its interest rate on hold at 0.25 percent as the labor market continues to recover. Employment remains below maximum levels, meaning that interest rate hikes will have to wait, Jerome Powell, Head of the Federal Reserve, said. However, the labor market could reach full employment by the second half of next year if it continues the current trend of growth. Japan’s private sector The private sector in Japan witnessed its first growth in six months as its Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) surged to 50.7 in October, up from 47.9 in September. The services activity also underwent its first expansion since January 2020. Manufacturers also rebounded from the fall experienced a month earlier. Employment also jumped for the ninth consecutive month, the highest growth in jobs since April 2019. Russia"s inflation up Russia"s year-on-year inflation rate recorded 8.1 percent in October, which is higher than previous month’s rate of 7.4 percent, Russia’s Federal State Statistics Service said. This was the highest rise in consumer prices since January 2016. Food prices were the main contributor to the mounting inflationary pressures, rising by a yearly rate of 10.9 percent. On a monthly basis, the inflation rate reached the highest level since March 2015, recording a 1.1 percent rate in October. Trade surpluses Brazil"s trade surplus shrank to $2 billion in October, down from $4.4 in the same month a year earlier, official data revealed. Exports rose annually by 27.6 percent to reach $22.5 billion in October. This was mainly driven by larger outbound shipments of mining goods and manufactured products, where they increased by 40.5 percent and 24.4 percent respectively. Meanwhile, imports grew by a faster rate of 54.9 percent to $20.5 billion. Purchases of mining goods skyrocketed by 141.7 percent and imports of manufactured products surged by 51.4 percent. Moreover, Australia"s trade surplus signalled a decline in September, falling to AUD12.2 billion ($9.1 billion) from a record high of AUD14.7 billion ($11 billion) in the previous month, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said. Exports dropped 6 percent on a monthly basis to a three-month low of AUD45 billion ($33.4 billion) due to weaker foreign demand as more countries grapple with rising infections of the Delta strain. Imports also declined, albeit at a marginal rate of 1 percent, to reach AUD32.7 billion ($24.3 billion). Looking at the first nine months of 2021, the trade surplus jumped considerably to AUD97.4 billion ($72.4 billion), growing by 83.2 percent compared to the same period of 2020.