1.   Neither has taken the no-new-taxes pledge, though both expressed caution about future hikes.

2.   Since the Fed typically raises or lowers rates in succession, the investment community is reacting to possible future hikes as well, experts said.

3.   In a statement issued after its regularly scheduled meeting, the Fed kept interest rates unchanged but hinted future hikes were possible.

4.   Across the Atlantic, stocks tumbled after Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned of a future hike in US interest rates to stem inflationary pressures in the United States.

5.   The spectre of runaway inflation and a future hike in interest rates hangs over the markets like a storm cloud.

6.   On Wall Street the move led to a wave of selling and a plunge in share prices as investors worried that future hikes may be in the offing.