At a news conference, ECB President Mario Draghi emphasized that the central bank was willing and ready to act, if further stimulus is needed.
Economic growth in emerging Asian countries, which have slowed sharply since the start of the year, may have bottomed out with signs of a turnaround under way, economists say.
Ben Bernanke's statement reversal on Fed continuing to remain accomodative, along with the Japanese elections and some noise from China about a possible stimulus push has given gold a reason to rally
On the back of stronger June payrolls growth, upward revisions to prior months job data and a larger-than-expected increase in earnings, Goldman Sachs revised the FOMC's tapering call from December 2013 to September 2013.
No matter what the Fed does, some corner of the financial markets will be unhappy Wednesday afternoon.