US stock indices move with volatility while Wall Street wait for an announcement the Federal Reserve that could guide your direction towards next year.
The three indices erased the negative trend and are now moving into positive territory. The Dow Jones Industrial advanced 0.4%, while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.2% and the S&P 500 advanced 0.2%.
The market widely expects the central bank to cut rates by a quarter point.
Oil prices remain stable on Wednesday. Brent futures rose 42 cents, or 0.57%, to $73.61 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 47 cents, or 0.7%, to $70.55 a barrel. .
Gold prices were unchanged, with spot gold down 0.1% to $2,643.79 per ounce. Gold futures in the US lose 0.1% to $2,659.80. Spot silver falls 0.6% to $30.35 per ounce.
What Wall Street expects from the Fed
In their most recent quarterly projections in September, Fed officials anticipated cutting the benchmark rate by another full percentage point, putting it around 3.4% by the end of 2025. However, among data showing that inflation remains above the 2% target and Trump’s victory in the presidential elections on November 5, Investors now believe the Fed could cut the benchmark rate by just half a percentage point next year.
They will scrutinize Fed Chair Jerome Powell’s projections and comments at the post-meeting news conference to determine whether policymakers are also taking a more cautious approach to future cuts.
The Fed will release its monetary policy statement and updated economic projections at 2 pm EST (i.e. 16:00 (4:00 pm) of Argentina), and Powell will begin speaking half an hour later.
Finally, it is worth remembering that Trump will take office on January 20, and The Fed will meet just over a week later, on January 28 and 29. A total of 58 of 99 economists recently surveyed by Reuters said they expected the US central bank will not cut rates at that meeting, as monetary policymakers will evaluate how the economy is evolving.
Source: Ambito
