Fed funds, the U.S. overnight inter- bank lending rate, opened at 0.17 percent, within the Federal Reserve’s target of zero to 0.25 percent.

Fed funds closed at 0.28 percent yesterday after trading from 0.1 percent to 0.28 percent and averaging 0.16 percent, ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker, said in an e- mailed statement.

The central bank will acquire $1 billion to $1.5 billion of Treasury Inflation Protected Securities maturing from July 2018 to February 2042. The purchases are part of the Fed’s program to replace $267 billion of short-term debt in its portfolio with longer-term Treasuries in an effort to keep borrowing costs low.

To contact the reporter on this story: Liz Capo McCormick in New York at emccormick7@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Liedtka at dliedtka@bloomberg.net