WASHINGTON – Consumers likely will pay more for home loans. Savers may earn a few more dollars on CDs and Treasurys. Banks could profit. Investors may get squeezed.

The Federal Reserve’s move last week to slow its stimulus will ripple through the global economy. But exactly how it will affect people and businesses depends on who you are.

The drop in the Fed’s monthly bond purchases from $85 billion to $75 billion is expected to lead to higher long-term borrowing rates. Which means loan rates could tick up, though no one knows by how much.

The move also could weigh on stock markets from the United States to Asia, even though the early response from investors was surprisingly positive.

Just keep in mind: The impact of the Fed’s action is hard to predict. It will be blunted by these factors:

It’s a very slight reduction. Economists had expected the Fed’s monthly purchases to be cut more than they were.

Even though it will buy slightly fewer bonds, the Fed expects to keep its key short-term rate at a record low “well past” the time unemployment dips below 6.5 percent from today’s 7 percent. Many short-term loans will remain cheap. “They have tried to sugarcoat the pill,” says Joseph Gagnon, senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

The Fed thinks the economy finally is improving consistently. An economy that can sustain its strength can withstand higher borrowing rates.

All of which suggests that while last week’s action marked the beginning of the end of ultra-low interest rates, the pain may not be very severe.

The Fed’s bond purchases, begun in the fall of 2012, were meant to stimulate the economy. The purchases were designed to lower mortgage and other loan rates, lead investors to shift out of low-yielding bonds and into stocks and prod consumers and businesses to borrow and spend.

Here’s a look at the likely effects of the Fed’s decision:

Consumer and business loans

Mortgage rates already have risen in anticipation of reduced Fed bond purchases: The average on a 30-year U.S. fixed-rate mortgage has increased a full percentage point this year to 4.47 percent. Analysts say it likely will head higher now.

“Homebuyers aren’t going to be happy,” says Ellen Haberle, an economist at the online real-estate brokerage Redfin. “In the weeks ahead, mortgage rates are likely to reach or exceed 5 percent.”

Still, higher mortgage rates won’t likely reverse the recovery in the housing market. As the job market strengthens and consumers grow more confident, demand for homes could more than make up for slightly higher mortgage rates.

“It’s a better economy that gets people to buy houses,” says Greg McBride, senior financial analyst at Bankrate.com.

Savers

Savers have suffered from the Fed’s low-interest-rate policy. It could offer some relief to people who keep money in three- and four-year CDs. But it probably won’t mean a big jump from, say, the average 0.48 percent rate on three-year CDs.

“They’re starting from such a low point, it’s not going to be nearly enough to make three- and four-year CDs anywhere near compelling,” McBride says.

By keeping short-term rates near zero, the Fed move does nothing for people with money in savings accounts and very short-term CDs.

Banks

Banks earn money from the difference between the short-term rates they pay depositors and the longer-term rates they charge consumers and businesses. The gap reached a five-year low in the middle of this year. But it’s likely to widen as longer-term rates rise and short-term rates stay fixed. Bank profits should rise as a result.

Banks also will benefit if an improving economy leads more credit-worthy businesses and consumers to seek loans.

Financial markets

The Fed intended its bond purchases, in part, to push bond yields so low that investors would move money into stocks, thereby driving up share prices. Since mid-November 2012, the Dow Jones industrial average has surged 28 percent.

Many Wall Street analysts feared stocks would plummet once the Fed announced a pullback in its bond buying. On Wednesday, the opposite occurred: The Dow rocketed 293 points. Investors appeared to focus more on the good news (the economy is improving) than the bad (the easy-money days may be ending).

The celebration might not last.

“As the tapering continues, there will be less liquidity going into the stock market,” and the rally will either slow or end entirely, says Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at the Martin Smith School of Business at California State University.

AP Economics Writer Josh Boak contributed to this report.