Bernanke kept the door open for tapering as you've indicated Moonraker, but said it is data-dependent and nothing is 'cast in stone'. Still, most analysts think the Fed will begin to taper in September - December this year, nothing else for us to do but to eco data watch, wait and see.
US ended green, Asia mixed this morning with Nikkei up 1.33%, US futures dipped into red, SA T40 -88 atm.
14:30 Initial jobless US
Local news: AIA Group Ltd. ("AIA") and Discovery Ltd. ("Discovery") announced a strategic joint venture to introduce Discovery's successful wellness-based life insurance model to the Asia-Pacific region.
Edit: SA T40 changed to -150. Why so negative?