The United States Federal Reserve on Wednesday hiked its interest rates for the first time in almost a decade. The US central bank's policy-setting committee raised the benchmark federal funds rate by a quarter point to 0.25-0.50%, reported Reuters. The move signalled the end of an extraordinary period of government intervention in the financial markets that started in response to the global financial crisis in 2008, reported The Guardian.

Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen said, "The economic recovery has clearly come a long way, although it is not yet complete." She added that the Fed expects economic activity to continue to expand at a moderate pace and labour market indicators to continue to strengthen.

Stock markets around the world had risen in anticipation of the move. The zero-rate policy was introduced by Yellen’s predecessor, Ben Bernanke, seven years ago. While the latest hike is the first increase since rates were brought down to zero in 2008, it is the first overall rise since 2006.