FEDERAL RESERVE BOARD CHAIRMAN ALAN GREENSPAN FILE PHOTO, 2003-02-26 (photo)

U.S. Federal Reserve policy-makers are expected to keep interest rates  steady at the conclusion of a one-day meeting on December 9, 2003 but  financial markets focused instead on whether they will drop a pledge to  keep them low for an extended period. Wall Street was united in  predicting the Fed will keep the federal funds rate, charged on  overnight loans between banks, at a 45-year low of one percent, biding  its time while a recovering U.S. economy gathers strength. Federal  Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan is pictured during testimony  before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee in this  February 26, 2003 file photo. REUTERS/Larry Downing/files    SV