The U.S. federal reserve on Wednesday brought its three-year drive to tighten monetary policy to an abrupt end, abandoning projections for any interest rate hikes this year amid signs of an economic slowdown, and saying it would halt the steady decline of its balance sheet in September. In terms of interest rates, the new Fed projections knocked the number of hikes expected this year to zero from the two forecast in December. This outlook is now also in line with President Donald Trump's criticism of Fed rate hikes endangering the recovery.