By Michael S. Derby

(Reuters) -As Wall Street’s expectations have rapidly shifted toward an imminent end to the Federal Reserve’s effort to shrink its bond holdings, some analysts also anticipate a return to balance sheet expansion in relatively short order.

A wide range of economists in recent days has called for the Fed to announce an end to its quantitative tightening (QT) at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. The U.S. central bank’s policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee is also widely expected to lower its benchmark interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point to the 3.75%-4.00% range at that meeting.

An unexpected and sometimes volatile rise in money market rates, including an upward drift in the federal funds rate, the Fed’s policy rate, has moti

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