Fed: Market took end of programs in stride

The Fed recently ended a series of capital lending facilities, including a program to buy $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities, which ended March 31. For the programs phased out before March 16, the Fed said, "No market strains emerged in conjunction with with the Federal Reserve's closing of nearly all of its remaining special liquidity facilities."

The Fed ended five lending programs on Feb. 1 and allowed temporary currency swap lines with foreign central banks to expire. In addition, "Financial markets also adjusted smoothly to the final offering of funds through the Term Auction Facility on March 8," the central bank said.

The minutes of the Open Market Committee noted a pickup in the employment situation and said the nation's manufacturing sector "continued to trend higher."

"On the downside," the minutes said, "housing activity remained flat and the nonresidential construction sector weakened further," referring to the period between February and March meetings.

Consumer spending remained on an upswing, however "household income appeared less supportive of spending than at the January meeting," the Fed said.

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