Federal Reserve officials signal open to taper talk at 'upcoming meetings'

US Treasuries declined on heavy futures volumes after the minutes were published

Some Federal Reserve officials were open to a debate at “upcoming meetings” on scaling back their massive bond purchases, a record of their April gathering showed, potentially putting taper talk on the table as early as next month.

“A number of participants suggested that if the economy continued to make rapid progress toward the committee’s goals, it might be appropriate at some point in upcoming meetings to begin discussing a plan for adjusting the pace of asset purchases,” according to minutes from the April 27-28 Federal Open Market Committee meeting published Wednesday.

“Various participants noted that it would likely be