Fed maintains bond-buying stimulus

``The Federal Reserve maintained its massive bond-buying stimulus program at the current level, citing still-high unemployment, a slowdown in the housing market and an economy held back by fiscal policies.  At the end of a two-day meeting Wednesday, the Fed said in a release that it would keep buying $85 billion of Treasury bonds and mortgage securities a month, in a bid to suppress long-term interest rates and spur economic and job growth. Policymakers also reiterated their pledge to keep the central bank's benchmark short-term interest rate near zero for a long time.''